edwinbcn's 2014 Books - Part 1

2014 marks my fourth year in Club Read.

By the end of December, I have finish reading 161 books, that is 11 books over my target of 150.

My reading plans for 2014 are:
* more about China (mainly secondary literature)
* more professional literature
* more German, French and Spanish

Two other resolutions are:
* Read more classics
* Make more use of my Kindle (in use since November)

001. Exquise Louise
Finished reading: 1 January 2014



Eugène Savitzkaya (1955) is a Belgian author from the predominantly French-speaking city of Liège. Savitzkaya is mainly known as a poet, although since 1998, only prose works have been published, relatively short novels of a very poetic quality.

Exquise Louise (English: "Exquisite Louise") is a short novel, written in vignettes. Each prose fragment sings the praise of the narrator's daughter Louise, celebrates Louise.

The book is a sheer joy to read. Obviously, other books have been written to adore women, but not usually such exalted adoration of a child. In fact, much writing about children in the past two decades or so tends to view children in a very problematic way. Either stories are told from severely mentally disturbed children, whether or not from the perspective of a child or unreliable narrator, or children are caught up in a variety of smut and perverse phantasies.

Exquise Louise is not like that. This short novel basks in freshness and pure sincerity. Over the course of less than 100 pages, the reader is invited to observe Louise growing up from a new-born baby to a young adolescent of about 15 years old. This high speed means that at the turn of almost every page there are new refreshing images to describe Louise in her development.

The poetic quality of Exquise Louise is born out by the structure of short prose vignettes, and subtle rhyme and repetition, which ties the book closely to the author's background as a poet.

The opening pages express the wonder of the child being born.

Elle est Louise.

A short sentence repeated several times in the first vignettes.

Elle est Louise.

The novel must particularly appeal to young parents, or parents who raised children may remember the speed of children's development and the wonder at the miraculous shape of the tiny feet, the tiny hands, and when on the opening page the narrator sings praise of Louise's legs, there is just the tiniest wink to the reader of praising the legs of a woman, just the right way to position the book.

However, merely singing the praise of a new-born baby would not make the book literature. But the way the narrator sees the child does. These observations are pared with poetic word play, as for instance:

Elle est Louise. Louise est pierre, désormais le prénom est repris aux garçons. Elle est dure, obstinée et lisse, personne ne peut l'attraper et rien ne peut entraver sa marche. Tous les pierres sont filles et les garçons ne sont que de petits cailloux, des rochers détachés de la montagne de pierre. Louise est la mer et la forêt et la nuit entière. (p. 11)

This vignette goes on to compare Louise to the light and the stars, the fire and the river; musique; the night, air and void, rain and wind.

Elle est Louise au centre de sa maison.

Readers can trace the fast pace of Louise growing up by landmark events, such as the loss of milk teeth:

C'était une toute petite dent de lait couleur ivoire vivant, la perle des perles. Elle vint avec un peu de sang, pour preuve d'origine. (...) Édentée d'une dent, âgée d'un jour de plus, Louise s'alla coucher, serrant sa dent dans son poing. Elle tenait enfin sa monnaie d'échange qu'elle déposa sous l'oreiller, puis fit plus ou moins paisablement le voyage de la nuit. (p. 39)

Sometimes the tone of the prose is burlesque: If you have a garden, whether small or large, do not hesitate to admit some children into it. One or two will be more than sufficient. Children are preferable to cats or dogs, that will bring you nothing more but excrement and other irritations... (p.50).

There is no difficulty to understand what Louise means when she talks about "the domestic tyrant".

Thus, Exquise Louise is an ode to the young Louise. It describes the true wonder of parents, but with the sharp observation of the poet. It describes everyday scenes and mixes them with the everlasting. It raises every most ordinary child, to the exalted height of myth.

Louise appela les chevaux et les chevaux réspondirent à Louise. De très loin.

(...)

Louise appela les corneilles et les corneilles réspondirent du haut des arbres.

(...)

Louise appela les chats et tous les chats à la ronde réspondirent à Louise.

A lovely review. I just added Exquise Louise to my book wish list.

002. The curious case of Benjamin Button, and six other stories
Finished reading: 3 January 2014



The Penguin Modern Classics edition of The curious case of Benjamin Button, and six other stories is a collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. "Head and Shoulders", "The Cut-Glass Bowl" and "The Four Fists" are taken from Flappers and Philosophers (1920), while "The curious case of Benjamin Button", "May Day" and "O Russet Witch" are taken from Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). To these is added the uncollected short story "Crazy Sunday", which was first published in 1932.

This was a partial reread, as I had already read "The curious case of Benjamin Button" and Flappers and Philosophers. I was merely interested in "O Russet Witch" and "Crazy Sunday".

"O Russet Witch" is a short story, but tries to tell a life-time history, so it is a bit peculiar that the frivolous young man and woman at the beginning of the story meet again at the end with wrinkled faces, forty years on in their lives. The story reads more like a synopsis for a novel, but even then would probably not be substantial enough. However, the message of "O Russet Witch" seems a bit top-heavy and with its moral lesson it stands out as a rather odd tale among the other more frivolous short stories. Then, since the setting of "O Russet Witch" is a book shop, quaintly appropriate as most of F. Scott Fitzgerald's stories seem to be set in places where the jet-set whiles away its time, some book lovers might find this story interesting.

Said to be characteristic of the Roaring Twenties, the short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald are very well-written, but rather lacking in substance.



Other books I have read by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
On booze
The curious case of Benjamin Button
Flappers and Philosophers
The diamond as big as the Ritz and other stories
The beautiful and the damned

003. Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book: Actual exchange of telegrams between Paris and St. Petersburg at the outbreak of the war
Finished reading: 5 January 2014



The Great War of 1914 - 1918, which later came to be known as World War I, was fought in modern-day Europe, and had some characteristics which have been long-time overlooked. One of these aspects, not of the least importance, is the question what was the cause, or who is to blame. It seems that this question will be one of the major focus points in the The Great War Centennial, 2014-2018 in the United Kingdom.

Asked about the main cause and the main culprit, most people will say that the main cause was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914, while asked who is to blame, most people will say that the aggressor in the war was Germany. This idea was carefully orchestrated by the Allied Powers, and achieved through war propaganda, unprecedented in history. As the true picture began to unravel during the 1920s, Germany's re-armament and the subsequent World War II interrupted the fact-finding, and particularly after the Second World War most teachers and scholars were glad to reinforce the original myth and blame Germany twice for both world wars. However, this is not entirely justified, if not actually quite wrong.

The origins of World War I can be found in the short time between the Sarajevo incident and the outbreak of the war, in just about one month. The war also rapidly escalated from what could have remained a very localized event, for instance an expedition of Austria against Serbia, to a world war involving all major powers. At the root of this quick escalation lay the multiple bi-lateral treaties between the powers involved.

Even in the initial stages of the Great War, i.e. in July and August 1914, the countries involved in the war tried to sway the public opinion to believe that they were fighting a just war, attempting to put the blame on other countries. This was achieved by the publication of diplomatic correspondence, telegrams exchanged between ministries and diplomats in the few weeks leading up to the war. In quick succession, each country published a volume of such correspondence, indicated by different colours, such as The Austro-Hungarian Red Book, "The French Yellow Book", "The German White Books" ( there are two), "The Russian Orange Book", The British Blue Book, "The Serbian Blue Book", "The Italian Green Book" and "The Belgian Grey Book". Most of these books are now freely available on the Internet. The information they provide gave the public the impression of being given a very up-to-date look into official correspondence, that showed that their respective government had no choice but to act as it did. Thus, the Germans were convinced that they fought a war of self-defense, while "The German White Books" was derided by their opponents as a feat of the most contemptuous propaganda. However, it escaped the public’s attention that all of “the colour books” were nothing but official propaganda.

However, this did not become clear until after the war was over. By the end of the Great War, the political landscape had changed greatly as various European countries dissolved in revolutions. The new revolutionary rulers, particularly in Germany and Russia, had no scruples to expose the degree of double-dealing and corruption of the former rulers. Also, during the 1920 several key players started publishing their memoirs, and it the role of “the colour books” as instruments of propaganda gradually became clear. In Germany, the publication of the Wie der Weltkrieg entstand by Karl Kautsky in 1919 showed “the honesty, and the ability of the men guiding the German ship of state in 1914” and paved the way for scholars to see that Germany had tried to avoid the war (Fay, 1928). On the other hand, the discovery and publication of Baron Schilling’s Diary of the Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1923 showed exactly how Russian Orange Book of 1914 had been falsified. Baron Schilling had been the Russian Foreign Minister, M. Sazonov’s confidential assistant, and as such had had access to all official correspondence. In his diary, Baron Schilling had pasted copies of passages which were suppressed from official documents as they were published in the "Russian Orange Book".

Later in 1923, this lead to the publication by Baron G. von Romberg of Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book: Actual exchange of telegrams between Paris and St. Petersburg at the outbreak of the war. This small volume consists of the original "Russian Orange Book" of 1914 while the suppressed passages from Baron Schilling’s diary are inserted, so that the original telegrams are restored. These corrections are printed in bold type-face, so that the reader can clearly see which words were deleted, and which passages or complete telegrams were suppressed, thus showing how the public was misled.

The “colour books” and Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book: Actual exchange of telegrams between Paris and St. Petersburg at the outbreak of the war can be read as primary sources. Particularly the latter is interesting, as it shows how the "Russian Orange Book" was designed and compiled with the intention of deceiving the reader to believe that Germany was the aggressor while Russia merely defended itself aiding it’s ally France, whereas, in fact, Russia had far more to gain from a large scale conflict, which would enable Russia to expand its influence on the Balkans.

The importance of the “colour books” is most clearly described in the work of the American historian Sidney Bradshaw Fay in his 2-volume work The Origins of the World War (1928), while his legacy is carried on by few modern-day scholars, most notably Christopher Clark, whose book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 will most likely and justifiably receive a lot of attention this year.

Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book: Actual exchange of telegrams between Paris and St. Petersburg at the outbreak of the war was a moderately interesting read, which, however, sparked great interest with what it reveals. While Fay’s conclusions remain controversial, the responsibility for the Great War should not be put with one culprit, least of all Germany, but rather more be found among various powers, most notably Austria, France and Russia.

004. Conference at Cold Comfort Farm
Finished reading: 6 January 2014



Conference at Cold Comfort Farm (1949) by Stella Gibbons is but a vague shadow of her vastly popular Cold Comfort Farm, published in 1932 (My review in December).

Cold Comfort Farm is a wonderful parody on the backwardness of rural life, centred on the hilariously funny and idiosyncratic characters of the members of family of the Starkadders, and Flora Poste revolutionising their lives.

Its sequel, Conference at Cold Comfort Farm is an utter failure to captivate the spirit of the original novel. As ominously forewarned in Cold Comfort Farm, the farm would not be the same without the Starkadders. But to get on in the world, making some of the principal characters leave the old place is Flora's main achievement. By the time of Conference at Cold Comfort Farm most of them have not returned. Amos Starkadder is still in America where he has founded a church, The Church of The Quivering Brethren. In fact, virtually all Starkadders have moved away and done the farm over to the National Trust. They have revamped Cold Comfort Farm into a conference centre, converting the meadows to trimmed lawns, restricting 'sukebind' to a pot plant, and dividing the rooms of the farm into meeting and conference rooms with prosaic names such as "Ye Olde Pantry" and "The Lytel Store Roome". To sum up, Cold Comfort Farm isn't what it used to be.

Supposedly, Flora Poste sets out to set things straight, just as she did in the first novel. But none of that really happens. First of all, the novel struggles to re-introduce the many characters from the old novel, readers may remember there were a great many. In in Conference at Cold Comfort Farm most of them are remembered, but they make no appearance the story. Then, the novel introduces a great number of new characters and organizations, but far less successfully than in the original novel. In Cold Comfort Farm readers knew each type the original characters represented, and the humour was largely based in familiarity, but in Conference at Cold Comfort Farm the new characters are introduced, but they remain vague, as it is not immediately clear who or what they stand for. Even though in some ways the set of characters in Conference at Cold Comfort Farm is closer to our contemporary lifestyle, the author does not take the trouble to characterize the managers, or sketch out the other characters, such as the Sage, a character we might think of as a sufi or guru in but a few lines. For most characters it is too difficult to guess who they stand for.

Moreover, Flora's (mimicking her newly acquired accent also referred to as "Flawra") mission is not at all clear. Restoring Cold Comform Farm would mean attempting to bring the Starkadders back, but as it was Flora's achievement to make them leave, this mission does not seem a viable option. In fact, it is never attempted, and the novel soon stands in descriptions of old and new characters, while any imagined mission soon disappears to the background or id forgotten altogether.

The 2002 edition by Vintage of Conference at Cold Comfort Farm was published with a short introduction by Libby Purves, but this introduction is rather useless. It looks as Ms Purves made no serious attempt to explain the background of the novel, and her suggestions regarding the possible background of characters seems haphazard and without foundation and far-fetched.



Other books I have read by Stella Gibbons:
Cold Comfort Farm

Edwin, you're off to a roaring start with your usual great range and reviews. Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book sounds is a great reminder that there's nothing like restored primary sources for getting the picture.

Conference at Cold Comfort Farm is a new one for me although I had read Cold Comfort Farm some time ago. Based on your reviews, I should reread it and skip the sequel.

005. Frog Music
Finished reading: 8 January 2014



Frog Music is the latest novel by Emma Donoghue and will be published on 31 March 2014.

Frog Music starts and ends with an identical scene, the murder of Jenny Bonnet on 14 September 1876. This event and the novel are a fictionalized account of the actual historical unsolved murder. While the opening scene is chaotic, making the reader wonder who gets shot, the same scene, which is described countless times throughout, as well as at the end of the book, readers have ample opportunity to ponder the details, and reach their conclusions long before Blanche Beaunon does.

The plot of the novel is fairly simple, but there are quite a number of intriguing details, which keep the reader fascinated. The novel is set in the milieu of French immigrants in the United States, particularly in San Francisco. The story and almost all flashbacks refer to a period of time of just about one month. Parts of the novel have a very cinematographic feel, so that when Blanche, a can can star dancer and prostitute is hit by a high-wheeler bicycle or vélocipède that scene is almost visible in one's imagination. The cyclist is Jenny Bonnet, a young woman notorious in San Francisco for cross-dressing and other mischief, she makes a living catching frogs and selling them to restaurants. Blanche and Jenny become friends, and Blanche invites Jenny to come over and stay with her in the household she supports, consisting of her lover, Arthur Deneve and Ernest Girard. Apparently precipitated by the friendship with Jenny, but influenced and coerced by a variety of mishap and circumstances, Blanche rapidly loses her job, her money, her property and lover and her child until she finds herself in a completely desolate state, and has to start all over again.

Early in the novel, the word morphodite is used to describe Jenny Bonnet, whose cross-dressing would now be regarded as transvestism. The etymology of the word morphodite in the sense of "homosexual" is not very well established, but it was in use in that form when Young Lonigan was published in 1932, and likely before that.

Sexuality and gender identity play an important part in Frog Music. Despite Blanche's description that throughout his life Arthur is either 'half-hard or wanting to become hard', the close bond between Arthur and Ernest, their characterisation as Castor and Pollux, looks very much like love, especially the devotion with which Ernest nurses Arthur through the smallpox epidemic. Suspicious eyes view boyish Jenny as a gouine (i.e. "dyke"), and while most remains hidden behind the utmost discretion, the reader does wonder who exactly in the novel are the gender-benders. Hidden sexuality and the shamefuless of sex are an important motive in the novel.

The novel cleverly describes the ribaldry of the young city, of drunkenness in the saloons, and lewdness in the House of Mirrors, of shamefaced bawdry and schoolboy mischief, greed, baby farms, prostitution, gambling, the smallpox epidemic and the stewing racial aggression against the Chinese population.

As the novel is set in the milieu of French immigrants in San Francisco, most main characters have French names, and many French words and expressions are used, for which an explanatory glossary is provided at the end of the book. For Blanche's singing of French ditties and lullabies, all but a CD is missing, some of the French song texts are included at the back of the book.

Frog Music is an exciting and enticing historical and detective novel about a piquant murder set in 1876 San Francisco.

Great review of Frog Music. I am very much looking forward to reading it.

>7 SassyLassy:

Oh yes, indeed, Sassy: Read or reread Cold Comfort Farm and stay away from Conference at Cold Comfort Farm. In my reviews I try to avoid saying that it was awful, although 2.5 stars comes very close to that.

Wow! You've been reading up a storm -- and so varied too. Fascinating about the WW1 documentation, and disappointing but not surprising about the follow-up to the wonderful Cold Comfort Farm, and interesting about the Emma Donoghue, about whom I have mixed feelings

Too bad about Conference at Cold Comfort Farm. I like your review of Frog Music.

Excellent review of Exquise Louise I will keep a look out for that one. My French might cope with that.

Your review of Frog Music has convinced me to give Emma Donoghue another chance.

Lots of good stuff here. Great review of Exquise Louise, Edwin. My best friend's wife is from Liège, so I'll have to ask her if she's read this. Is it available in English translation? I can only find it in French. I'll definitely read it if it has been translated.

Interesting comments about The Great War and the country's color books.

Great review of Frog Music. I'll buy it soon after it's published here.

>14 kidzdoc:

My review of Frog Music is based on an uncorrected proof copy that I obtained in a book store in Beijing.

Various members have asked me whether there is an English translation of Exquise Louise. I haven't found any.

However, there a bilingual edition, French & English, of one of the other works by Eugène Savitzkaya, which is the prose - poetry volume Rules of Solitude.

Very interesting review of Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book Edwin.

Your review of Frog Music also has me intrigued. I've only just recently wishlisted Astray by Emma Donoghue, but otherwise do not have any experience of her writing. It certainly sounds like an original and interesting story.

Great review of Falsifications... History can be a touchy subject - it is the winners that write it and until the last few decades, it was easy enough to even forget that there is another story somewhere behind the scenes...

>17 AnnieMod:

You are right, Annie.

In fact, in my review of Falsifications of the Russian Orange Book: Actual exchange of telegrams between Paris and St. Petersburg at the outbreak of the war, I restricted myself to write only about the Russian Orange Book and the direct implications for our view of history. And although Russia was one of the Triple Entente Powers it cannot exactly be seen as victorious in the war, as Russia did not get what it aimed for, i.e. extension of influence on the Balkan and the Russian Empire crumbled following the October Revolution in 1917.

The "winners" (if any) of WWI were Britain and France; particularly, these two countries were very late in publishing their "colour books".

I was not so excited about the WWI topic, but now intend to buy and read The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark as that book most seems to represent the "controversial" line of history which says that Germany was a great deal less to blame for the War, and the French, Austria and Russia a great deal more, the legacy of Sidney Bradshaw Fay's work The Origins of the World War (1928).

006 The road
Finished reading: 11 Jaruary 2014



The road is a gruesome story about a father and son walking south through an apocalyptic landscape. The cause of the apocalyps is not described other than that as it occurred there were a series of bright flashes and rumble, while its effects are described as having molten or softened tarmac and killed many people. It isn't clear from the story whether the destruction of the biosphere is a direct or indirect effect, however, the novel does not mention radioactivity or fall-out. The landscape is described as being seared, while ash covers everything and keeps twirling down.

Both unnamed, father and son's trek south is apparently motivated by the vague hope that things will be better in the south, their particular goal being to reach the ocean. While in the beginning they have food, taken along in a trolley, pushed by the father, the food runs out and they scavenge for food along the road, sometimes finding some in empty houses or deserted urban centres, and once, they are particularly lucky to find a stash in an unused bunker. No food is grown, produced or harvested. Father and son are not the only survivors, and as all survivors can only subsist on canned and packaged foodstuffs predating the apocalyps, food sources are scarce and running out.

Reaching their destination is a kind of anticlimax, as they do not find what they hope to find; then, the father descides to travel further south.

The most gruesome part of the story is that with the food shortage, mankind has fallen back on cannibalism. The remains of a baby roasted over a fire and other evidence of cannibalism are much more horrible than the mummified corpses they find on their way.

The novel is set in the near future, as can be deducted by the fact that the language used is largely contemporary except that the boy every now and then uses a novel word and the spelling has but altered slightly.

As a novel, The road shares some interesting features with the genre of nineteenth century novels describing the Americans' cross-continental trek, following the trail. However, instead of 'going west' the direction is going south. There are similarities in narrative structure, such as hunting for food, and avoiding danger, the danger mostly posed by other humans. In The road the father tries to convince the son that they carry the true spirit, which, while not explained as religion, does stand for a set of moral values, and equated with 'the Good'. The purpose of their trek is never made explicit, but does seem to be the unspeakable hope to find 'new land' or at least a better place.

While the story is frightfully simple and straightforward, and relatively short, many issues remain untouched and puzzling. While the nature of the cataclysmic event is not described, it is likely to have a natural rather than man-made cause as in the aftermath post-apocalyptic America has regular tremors. Snow in the south suggests climate change. It is suggested that the cataclysmic event destoyed all outdoor life, live-stock and wild-life may have disappeared in the aftermath or been eaten. The breathable oxygen suggests that the apocalyps is localized rather than worldwide, but approximately ten years, i.e. the age of the son, onward their are no apparent signs of a return of wild-life or the suggestion that the earth could support plant life.

Following comments the author made about the book, the title "The Road" signifies a very pessimistic interpretation of "where things will go" with humanity in such an event.

The book presents but the merest glimmer of hope, but that glimmer of hope paired with perseverance seems to be an essential cultural trait of the American experience.

007 A cup of tea. A novel of 1917
Finished reading: 12 January 2014



A cup of tea. A novel of 1917 is a short and somewhat bland novel by the American author Amy Ephron. Despite its shortness, the novel is packed with various complex plot elements, while none is really developed to its full potential. The novel seeks to explore various types of relationships between people, but again, the novel is too short to support such a broad thematic scope.

Young Rosemary Fell is betrothed to Philip Alsop. She spends her days in idleness, shopping and is seen spending a lot of money buying antiques at the opening of the story. On her way home she is accosted by a young woman who is shivering in the rain, asking for money to buy a cup of tea. Rather than give her the money, she invites the young woman, Eleanor Smith, to drive home with her in her car, and drink tea with her.She is quite pleased with her act of charity, despite the frowning of her chauffeur and house-keeper. A visiting friend is helpful by introducing Eleanor to employment in a hat shop.

With a single glance over her cup of tea, Eleanor manages to steal Philip's heart, and when Philip meets her again by chance in the hat shop he falls in love with Eleanor, and starts seeing her. Despite their sexual relationship, Philip does not break off the engagement with Rosemary, and Eleanor feels betrayed when he marries Rosemary, earlier than originally planned as Philip is sent to serve in the War. Philip is reported missing and assumed dead, but then miraculously returns home alive. Back in New York, he picks up his old life and ways, married to Rosemary he keeps seeing Eleanor which leads to the dramatic climax of the novel.

The novel explores themes as various as friendship, love, pre-marital love and betrayal of a fiancée, marital and extra-martital love with betrayal of both the spouse and the lover, (insincere) altruism and there is even a sideline of lesbian love. The backdrop of the First World War and unexpected somewhat unlikely twists in the plot, such as Eleanor shivering in a sweater in the rain (it is never explained how she got into that situation) and Philip reported dead and then re-appearing all just serve to create more variation in the extricacies of the relations between the women in the novel. It is not surprising that the characters are not very well developed in a short novel with such a complex plot.

008 For all the tea in China. How England stole the world's favorite drink and changed history
Finished reading: 13 January 2014



For all the tea in China. How England stole the world's favorite drink and changed history is an enjoyable read, but should not be taken at face-value. The book may be an enjoyable read for Englishmen who like to dream about past glorious days of Empire and readers who want to read and adventure story of exploration without the need for historical accuracy. The merit of the book is that it pulls the historical figure, botanist and explorer, Robert Fortune out of the shadows of oblivion, but its demerit is that is does not do him a very good turn.

Under the guidance of Joseph Banks, who travelled as a botanist attached to James Cook's exploratory surveys, the Royal Society worked to turn Kew gardens into the world's largest repository of botanical specimens and develop knowledge and use this knowledge to transplant crops and live-stock throughout the British Empire to the best agricultural advatntage, policies and practice which were continued long after his death. While many people have heard of the Mutiny of the Bounty, few know that the purpose of the voyage of the Bounty was to sail to Tahiti to take a load of potted breadfruit trees on board and transport these trees across the globe to the Caribbean to transplant this crop in an attempt to grow breadfruit there as a suitable source of food for slaves. The transplatation of crops and live-stock, such as the introduction of sheep to Australia, helped Britain to make its colonies more productive and profitable.

One of the most prized crops, which Britain imported from China, was tea. The high price of tea, the high demand for it in Britain and the facts that China considered itself self-sufficient, meaning it was glad to export but refused to import any good from Britain, led to a serious trade deficit, which threatened to bankrupt the British. Attempts by the British to offset the import of tea by an export of opium, creating a growing demand for the drug by poisoning the Chinese population met with obvious resistance, resulting in the Opium Wars with China, threatened the supply of tea, so that the British sought ways to grow tea in its colonies, specifically in India.

While in the eighteenth century, the job of botanist and explorer was the affair of aristocratic young men, by the nineteeth century the (natural) sciences, particularly in connection with exploration, offered good opportunities to young men of humbler origins. Low salaries could be comfortable supplemented with profitable undertakings such as the collection and sale of (plant) speciments, china and chinoiseries and the writing of books about their travels.

Robert Fortune (1812 – 1880) was a botanist, who travelled to the Far East several times, visiting Japan, mainland China, Taiwan and India. He discovered several plant species, some of which are named after him, and introduced hundreds of plants, including different varieties of roses to British gardens. Fortune was instrumental in the compilation of knowledge of growing and processing tea, rice and silk. Between 1847 and 1863 he published six books about his travels of exploration. Apart from his published work, very little is known about Robert Fortune, as his wife is reported to have destroyed his personal effects, diaries, journals and correspondence after his death.

For all the tea in China. How England stole the world's favorite drink and changed history is largely based on the books by Robert Fortune as very little other authentic source material is available. However, Sarah Rose's book is not an academic publication, so no footnotes are used, and it is hard to know where the author took her information, or whether in fact the book is perhaps a popularized account of a compilation of works by Robert Fortune. It very much seems to be.

It is clear that Sarah Rose writes well, and can tell a story, but perhaps she is not the right person to tell this story. Her book is mainly an adventure story, with very little or no historical accuracy. Ms Rose either lacks the critical faculty or decided to switch it off in order to twist history to its most advantageous way and sacrifice truth and accuracy on the altar of a commercial success. The main premise of her book is that Fortune was commissioned to steal the tea plant from China, and be the first to do so, thereby effectively breaking China's tea monopoly. However, China had no monopoly on tea, and tea specimens, i.e. living plants, had already been collected by British botanical gardens in Sri Lanka more than two decades before Fortune's travels.

Fortune's travels into the interior of China took place between 1845 and 1860, at a time of hightened agression against foreign imperialists. Britain fought two Opium Wars with China in the 1840s and 1860, so a certain degree of discretion was perhaps necessary. However, whether Robert Fortune's disguise was customary and 'normal' or necessitated by the secrecy of his mission is not clear. It is all rather unlikely that Fortune's several months long expeditions, carrying glass cases with plant specimens went truly unnoticed, as the author claims.

The Introduction of the book is embarrassingly nationalistic, displaying the spirit of British colonialism favourably and without any sense of shame. Descriptions of interaction with the Chinese are enlivened by the use of the British-Chinese pidgin, e.g. chop-chop meaning "quick", but other usage of Chinese pinyin is at times painfully incorrect, as e.g. zou means "go", but would never be used by Chinese people in that way, as the Chinese imperative form would include the particle "ba" as in zou ba, which would then mean "let's go", but the author should have used (kuai) Pao in that particular context to mean "let's get out of here!".

There are various other inconsistencies and sometimes the author creates confusion. The use of the word "Bohea" as a geographical designation or a more generic term for black tea is not always clear. Rose describes how Robert Fortune discovered that green tea and black tea both come from the same plant, nonetheless in the later part of the book the author keeps confusing readers by relating Fortune's mission to collect both seeds of green tea plants and black tea plants. Although the book includes descriptions of tea utensils and ways of making tea, while referring to different types of tea, the author never explains the differences between for example Da Hong Pao tea and other varieties.

In the final chapters, the author describes the success of British tea grown in India and attributing this success to the endeavors of Robert Fortune. This is historically incorrect as through trial and error, the Indian tea trade is largely based on cultivars which were indigenous to the Indian Himalayas. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica "At first they used seeds from China, but later seeds from the clonal Assam plant were used."

For all the tea in China remains an interesting read as an adventure story, at most.

009 Pulse
Finished reading: 14 January 2014



Pulse is a sublime collection of short stories by Julian Barnes. In 14 stories Barnes explores the theme of what makes a good marriage, in particular focussing on the role of communication in relationships. It is sometimes said that great artistry is borne out of misery, and that a happy marriage is often improductive, at least to some authors. Barnes collection Pulse seems some proof towards that statement. While Barnes openly mourned his wife, who died in 2008, in Levels of Life, Pulse published in 2011 is a superb collection of tales looking at various aspects of perfect and failed marriages.

Various stories in the collection explore the role of communication in relationships: what is said, and what isn't; what cannot be talked about, or a free flow of banter. The four stories centred on Phil and Joanna are about such a flow of easy-going, witty but not overly serious conversation. In "East Wind" the lover's prying into privacy and (unspoken) acknowledgement of what the woman tried to conceal breaks up the relation, while in “Trespass” the man treats his new girlfriend as a pure substitute for his ex, falling into the same behavioural patterns, and failing to see why she does not want to marry him. His need to make that explicit is just why.

Several of the stories deal with rutted-in behavioural patterns, including, for instance, 'dirty talk' in the title story, "Pulse" which is the last story in the collection.

Most stories are characterized by a sublime subtlety, surpassing Barnes previous work. As the theme of the stories is language, likewise the reader must be fine-tuned to listen and spot Barnes' subtle wit, as some irony is explicit and some implicit. Still, there are a number of hilarious moments, which may make you laugh out loud, as in the story Carcassonne".

The 14 stories in Pulse are divided into two sections, the division is not very clear, except that the first nine stories in Part One seem a bit closer to everyday life, while the five longer stories in Part 2 seem more serious. Conversation in fiction does not seem Barnes strongest point, nonetheless the conversations in the various stories, while perhaps not the most natural, serve their purpose. In prose, Julian Barnes seems best when the stories take on the hue of non-fiction, as do the stories in Part 2. These stories, with apparently fictionalized autobiographical elements, are most effective, and various are unforgettable.

Having read several works by Julian Barnes, it must be said that Pulse belongs to the toppers, on a par with Flaubert's Parrot.

Highly recommended.



Other works I have read by Julian Barnes:
Levels of Life
Love, etc.
The lemon table
Flaubert's parrot
Metroland

No surprise, but loads of great reviews here. I am always amazed by the number of books you read.

I read England, England by Julian Barnes last year, and was completely underwhelmed. It thought that the idea sounded good, but it fell flat for me. I know I should try another.

>

Right on, Colleen, although I have read several of Barnes books, there weren't many I liked. Of all the ones listed above, I actually only ever liked Flaubert's Parrot. For several of the others, particularly Love, etc., The lemon table and Metroland I gave very low ratings.

>24 edwinbcn: Thank you, Edwin. I think I might skip him for now. I have so many books I really want to read. Although I might make an exception for Pulse. That one sounds good. "Sublime collection" is hard to resist.

Great reviews, Edwin. I was tempted by the tea book, but having read your account of all it's failings, I think not.

Are your getting more generous with your ratings Edwin? You must have been impressed with The Road. I have not read anything by Cormac McCarthy but I am encouraged by your review,

I will definitely get a copy of Pulse Excellent reviews as always especially all the background (and corrections) you provide for For All the Tea in China

Super review of For All the Tea in China -- I think you've provided me with all the knowledge I need to know and to be able to avoid reading the book!

Thanks, folks. I am glad you read the reviews and that they are of some use.

I yet have to read Julian Barnes Arthur & George and The Sense of an Ending (both on my TBR. My reading and appreciation of his books over the past 10 years are as follows:

Something to declare Read in 2014
Pulse Read in 2014
Levels of life Read in 2013
Love, etc. Read in 2011
The lemon table Read in 2008
Flaubert's parrot Read in 2006
Metroland Read in 2004

There are many factors weighing into your appreciation of a book, basically it is not much more than a momentary impression. However, the impression is often pretty good. I could be that a re-reading of the books read earlier, given a lower number of stars, might lead to a different appreciation of those books, but who wants to do that, other than students who have to work on a thesis?

Sometimes an appreciation expressed in a set of stars is compound of conflicting ideas. For instance, I was pretty bored by the first two parts of Levels of Life, but then I was struck by the juxtaposition of those parts with Part 3 of the book, almost like a typical chute from high elevation to a deep down (without a parachute). Thus, a fairly simple idea makes me see the book, and its author, even life in general, in a different light. On the basis of that, I would be tempted to give the book a higher mark, e.g. 4.5 stars, which evens out on 4 because the relative boredom reading the first part of the book, which might have resulted in an appreciation anywhere between 2 and 3.5.

It is something similar with the book by Sarah Rose. If you want to read a book about tea, do not read her book, as it contains too many flaws. I am sure there are many other, better books about tea. However, besides tea, I am also very interested in botany and exploration, and the book has its merits in highlighting the life of Robert Fortune. Unfortunately, this is done in the easiest fashion, by simply paraphrasing Fortune's own work and very little original research. Still, on the strenghth of pretty good writing skills and a choice of basically and interesting topic, I would still meet out 3.5 stars, despite many of the books shortcomings.

I think I have expressed elsewhere my dissatisfaction that publishers sacrifice academic soundness for readability, which will likely sell better, and the market is flooded by books by journalists, who have the skills to dig up information and write about it, but often lack the critical faculty to dig deeper, and who are more prone to twist the truth, and bias their writing to proof a point which is often nothing more than a scoop, which sells better.

You got me a bit worried there, Barry.

However, I went over my library for the past 3 years, and see that my ratings are pretty stable. It is possible that a read somewhat better books though, as the book buying situation in Beijing has improved, and I have shipped more books from home to Beijing.

I tremendously enjoyed both of the Barnes you have left to read. I look forward to finding out what you think of them -- even if your opinion differs from mine. I'll look out for a copy of Pulse.

It is difficult to rate a book that you like in part; when reviewing I can find myself dwelling on the negative aspects and this can make the rating look a bit odd.

010 Something to declare
Finished reading: 15 January 2015



Julian Barnes has with something with France, as the title of his collection of essays published in 2002 states: Something to declare. However, what Barnes has with France is not something superficial, but rather intellectual and deep. Therefore, following titles of essays such as "The land without Brussels sprouts" or "Tour de France 1903" and "Tour de France 2000" are a bit misleading if the reader expects a light, summer holiday read that tells us how peculiar or special the French are. In the Preface, Barnes explains how deep France goes with him; both his parents were teachers of French, they spent all their summer holidays there, Barnes studied French, he lived and worked in France, in a word, Julian Barnes breathes French.

The Preface also states that the seventeen essays collected in Something to declare were written over a period of 20 years. At the back of the book, a list shows the publication dates of the "original" essays. However, with the exception of the two essays about the "Tours de France", the essays in Something to declare are extremely well integrated. Subsequent essays build on previous essays, making the collection remarkably coherent. This tight coherence is probably the effect of some re-writing, which is, unfortunately, detectable at the beginning of the essays. Various essays beging with a type of preamble and then, after about a page or page-and-half suddenly switch to their actual topic. Some of the essays have a confusing beginning.

'Tis true that the essays in Something to declare are about France and French culture, but this could be made more precise by saying that the essays are more specifically about Gustave Flaubert and both literary figures and people around Flaubert. Various essays are about obscure biographers, obscure family relations of Flaubert or obscure details brought to light about the legacy of Flaubert. In fact, the essay collection is rather specialized, presupposing quite a profound interest in and knowledge of the work of Gustave Flaubert, like ..... the author himself. Thus, the essays are rather self-indulgent. They are an intellectual treasure trove if you are interested in Flaubert, but otherwise rather boring and difficult to read. Incidentally, the essay collection sheds some light of overarching nature on French culture, paired with Julian Barnes tongue-in-cheek humour, concluding that France is essentially a very rustic nation, with a deep longing to life in the countryside, as illustrated by "the typical peasant."

Almost all essays in Something to declare are based on reviews Julian Barnes wrote for The New Yorker, the London and New York Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement. The essays are very well-written, and packed with details: fodder for the intellectual reader with a profound interest in French Nineteenth Centurary literature.



Other books I have read by Julian Barnes:
Pulse
Levels of life
Love, etc.
The lemon table
Flaubert's parrot
Metroland

011 Against interpretation and other essays
Finished reading: 18 January 2014



Penguin Books has included all of the work of Susan Sontag, including all essaistic work, in its series of Penguin Modern Classics. Against interpretation and other essays is the earliest collection of essays, published originally in 1966. Reading all volumes, six in all, one gets to know Susan Sontag herself pretty well, too. In an introduction or afterword in some of the collections of essays, Sontag looks back, and reflects on her style of writing or choice of subject matter at the time. While Sontag has a clear eye, and open, for what happens and develops in the cultural scene at home, that is in the United States, particularly in New York, her passion is with French and German literary culture, while her overall style and approach make her work attractive to international readers around the world.

There is some merit, to read the essays backwards, so to say, i.e. start with some of the later volumes and turn last to Against interpretation and other essays. The later essays show Susan Sontag as a very contemplative, very mature and erudite writer. the essays in the later collections, for instance in Under the sign of Saturn. Essays tend to be longer, and the passion displayed in the choice of topic is expressed in depth, rather than scope. The later essays, focussing on writers, such as Artaud or Benjamin are very balanced compositions, which will inspire and interest readers both unfamiliar and familiar with the topic, at a length of 30 - 50 pages. The most recent essays tend to be book-length, such as Illness as metaphor, which is great because of its originality, and AIDS and its metaphors and Regarding the pain of others which seem too long, and losing unity and focus.

Susan Sontag (1933 - 2004) studied English Literature, and pursued advanced higher education, closed with a doctorate in Philosophy. In 1958, she lived in Paris for a year, an experience she later described as "perhaps, the most important period of her life." Sontag has written both fiction and non-fiction. Her novels, also all re-issued by Penguin Classics seem to be undervalued.

Against interpretation and other essays is passionate in its vigorousness and hunger to explore new themes and topics. Susan Sontag wrote that she would sometimes watch two or three films per day during those years in the early 1960s. She was to maintain a life-long interest in film and photography, and throughout her essaistic work there are many essays devoted to this branch of the arts. In her later career, Sontag was also active as a director, both on the stage and as a producer of films. Her approach to describing the French cinema is very analytic and besides technique, focused on French philosophy, tying trends in French thought, such as Sartre's existentialism to great film makers such as Godard. However, in her essays Sontag's focus is so much at depth and detail, that she fails to describe a more overall trend of so-called nouvelle vague as a binding element in her essays about the French cinema.

Her interest in film and photography does not an interest in the theatre, as demonstrated in various essays drama, although drama in Sontag's essays is usually discussed in the broader context of literature and cultural philosophy.

Written in the early 1960s, based on her experience during those years and the perhaps five or six years before that, Against interpretation and other essays focuses on cultural phenomena important or emergent during that period. There is a critical essay on Albert Camus's Notebooks and literary criticism on works by authors such as Michel Leiris, Sartre on Genet, and essays about Ionesco, "Going to the theatre" and "The death of tragedy".

Against interpretation and other essays contains a number of landmark essays, such as "Notes on 'Camp'" (1963) and "Happenings: an art of radical juxtaposition", both essays in which Susan Sontag was one of the first to spot and highlight concurrent cultural trends during the 1960s. The essay collection begins with Sontag's two essays "Against interpretation" and "On style" which form a programmatic introduction to all of her essaistic work.

The essays by Susan Sontag are very cerebral, and the choice of topics and her way of writing display a great erudition as befits a great author. The essays in Against interpretation and other essays, while originally published in 1966, have lost nothing in their power or importance as defining cultural trends. They are as important to readers who wish to develop a base of knowledge as an underpinning to understanding modern art today as they were half a century ago!

An interesting detail, is the choice of the photo for the cover of the Penguin Modern Classics edition. It shows Susan Sontag as somewhat timid, but clearly holding her ground in a world dominated by man. In this early essay collection, Sontag went out to explore and develop her own, personal style. The essays speak of great passion and courage, daring to criticize even the greatest masters of arts in essays written with vigor. In Against interpretation and other essays showed herself as an author "with balls".

Highly recommended.



Other books I have read by Susan Sontag:
Regarding the pain of others
Under the sign of Saturn. Essays
Where the stress falls
Illness as metaphor
AIDS and its metaphors

Wonderful overview of one of my favorite critics. There has been some criticism of her about her changing her political stance over the years. She had been very forceful in her advocacy, for example, by directing Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo during the civil war there. (At a risk to her life).

Her novels have gotten a lot of attention since one, The Volcano Lover, was a best seller. The public liked it, more than the critics did, as I recall.

I think her essays are much more important. Before she died, she told her son, David Rieff, that she wanted to concentrate on fiction. Sadly, she did not live to continue. He wrote a moving memoir about her final battle with cancer called Swimming in the Sea of Death.

I have followed her career with great interest and pleasure. She has led me to authors I might not otherwise have known about like Danilo Kis. I have felt a personal bond with her, since she was a student at the University of Chicago when she was 16, and I was there at about the same time when I was 17. We both married professors, had sons named David, and divorced the professors. Of course, she went on to fame and glory and I made no appreciable dent in the world.

She decided to live by her pen, rather than becoming an academic, and suffered real deprivations. When she was first diagnosed with cancer, her friends had to raise 100,000 dollars to pay for an experimental treatment because she had no insurance. That was the treatment, for stage 4 breast cancer, that saved her life, but ultimately caused the blood cancer that killed her. (According to her doctors in her last illness).

Her journals are being published starting with 1947. I only have the first one, but it is fascinating. Her appetite for culture is boundless and remained so, for theatre, ballet, film, and literature. A Wonder Woman!

Thanks, Miriam. Susan Sontag was a great discovery for me last year, when I read and reviewed four volumes of essays. This year, I want to go on reading the novels, and I have purchased the journals, I think so far only two volumes have been published: Reborn: Early Diaries, 1947-1963 and As consciousness is harnessed to flesh Journals and Notebooks 1964 - 1980. I have not yet come round to reading Swimming in a Sea of Death by her son David Rieff.

Wonderful review and discussion of Sontag -- truly a brilliant star extinguished too early.

I love those covers. Something I was reading recently (perhaps the history of rabies?) made reference to Sontag's Illness as a Metaphor and it sounds fascinating.

012 Diaries and selected letters
Finished reading: 20 January 2014



Only since the fall of Communism in Russia and due to the relentless efforts of his third wife, Yelena Bulgakova, did Mikhail Bulgakov attain the status of a world-class author during the later 1990s. His novel The Master and Margarita is now recognized as one of the great masterpieces of Twentieth Century literature, while his other works are considered classics.

With funding from the Arts Council England, Alma Books has brought out a translation of Bulgakov's Diaries and Selected Letters. The introduction fails to relate where these autobiographical documents come from, or when and where they surfaced, as in the course of the text it becomes clear that the diaries were confiscated by the OGPU, the All-Union State Political Administration or secret police of the Soviet Union between 1922 and 1934, later known as the NKVD and best known in its final form as the KGB. The Alma edition merely states that is is based on a Russian edition that was published in 2004, while referring to an earlier, extended edition, also published in Russian, in 1997. Throughout the text there are lacunae, instances of missing or illegible text, as well as editorial cuts.

Beside biographies, autographs of their favourite authors such as letters and diaries are of special interest to readers. Such autobiographical documents, primary sources, are often read in appreciation for their style, and because they give detailed descriptions or clues about the genesis of parts of the oevre and autobiographical details which may have a bearing on the appreciation of the autho's works. While biographies are written form a retrospective perspective, bringing together vast masses of documents and facts together with an interpretation and describing of wider background and context, autobiographical writings are limited to the concurrent perspective of the author.

The limited perspective of the author is particularly poignent in this edition of Mikhail Bulgakov's Diaries and selected letters. The text shows the ascent, development and failure of the writer. His career initially blooms, then stagnates and is finally completely destroyed, and all the while the author seems oblivious of why that should be happening to him. Readers now are familiar with the history of the Soviet Union and will know about the policies of Lenin (1870 - 1924) and Stalin (1878 - 1953). Modern readers have a basic knowledge of the way dictatorships worked and how they came into being, and the way Stalin in particular used centralized power to purge and deport vast masses of people by either having them murdered directly or sending them to a gulag in Siberia. This fate was especially meted out to people who were suspected of opposing ideological views. Obviously, Bulgakov had no knowledge or premonition of such facts as they were developing. In Bulgakov's Diaries and selected letters the reader sees the author struggling and wondering why his livelihood is being destroyed, while the reader with hindsight understands so well.

To many readers, becoming a writer seems a mysterious process, a mixture of calling and destiny. While talent is definitely a crucial factor, since Jack London's Martin Eden it should be clear that there is nothing mystic about it. Most writers can point out a particular moment when they decided to live by the pen. Journalism paves the way in an existence of poverty and gradually getting more and more stories published, as fame grows, and to talented authors this takes anywhere between three to five years.

Mikhail Bulgakov trained as a doctor and with some luck escaped being sent to fight in the First World War. During the Russian Civil War he worked and sympathized with the White Movement, as his brothers fought in the White Army against the Red Army. In 1919, Bulgakov decided to become a writer. The Alma edition contains Bulgakov's diaries from 1922 to 1925. They take a mere 50 pages, and are very fragmented partly because of omissions and editorial cuts, and largely because Bulgakov was not a very loyal journalist. The diaries show great lapses, and were often abandoned for many months. Still, they show the author's development as an author, relate his initial successes and describe Bulgakov's struggle in poverty. In 1925, the diaries were confiscated together with the complete manuscript of A Dog's Heart.

After the confiscation of the diaries, Bulgakov discontinued writing journals for fear they, too, would be confiscated. From then on, he wrote only letters. The Alma edition does not state whether Bulgakov made or kept copies of his correspondence. This edition contains a selection of letters from the period 1925 till 1939, on 163 pages. The letters are extensively annotated, as in almost each letter there are several references to contemporaries of Bulgakov, now largely unknown to foreign readers. Most letters are official letters to Joseph Stalin, the secret service and other organizations in the Soviet Union, asking for help or explanations why his existence as an author is made so difficult. Some of these letters are a bit repetetive, as they contain the same information and argument. Through the letters and photo section, readers get a fairly good, but fragmented insight into Bulgakov's life.The main focus of the letters is on the development of his career, particularly in the theatre. However, even here there are large gaps, and only with a careful study of the notes it becomes clear how Bulgakov's career was destroyed, and how he ended up writing libretti for the opera. Basically, the available material or the selection is too limited to bring out a coherent description of his career. There are many references to plays which were successfully published in the early 1920s, but to the later plays there is sometimes only one reference, while the significance or humiliating aspect can only be understood through the annotations. There are only two or three fleeting references to the manuscript which is believed to be the origins of what was later to become The Master and Margarita .

Although Mikhail Bulgakov's livelihood was destroyed and he could not publish his works or have his plays performed, Bulgakov was not purged or deported. Given his openly professed sympathy for the White Movement, and his political and ideological ideas, it is most likely that the secret service would profile him as a class enemy, and reactionary. Nonetheless, it seems Bulgakov must have had some protector at a high level, Stalin himself was rumoured to be.

Mikhail Bulgakov's Diaries and selected letters offer the reader a close-up of the development of the author's career as a writer, the struggles he underwent in Russia, and his inability to fight plagiarism and exploitation beyond its borders. The significance of the publication is largely borne out by it being a contemporary primary source showing the impact of political changes and ideology on the lives of Russian citizens in the 1920s. The edition of the diaries and letters by Alma also sheds light on the background of various other, less well-known works by Mikhail Bulgakov, many of which are now published by Alma Classics, such as Diaboliad and Other Stories, The Fatal Eggs, The Life of Monsieur Molière and A Young Doctor's Notebook, besides the better known classics. Diaries and selected letters was published in 2013 in a hardcover edition.

I read somewhere that Stalin was so enamored of the play about the Turbins, that he went to see it 17 times at the Moscow Art Theatre. The novel made from the play is called The White Guard. There is also a wonderful Russian miniseries of it, and one of Master and Margarita also.

I think Bulgakove spent quite a bit of time at the Moscow Art theatre with the approbation of Stalin. The White guard is about a family in Kiev, who oppose the communists and are in the Uniforms of the Tsar's army. Kiev is conquered by a Cossack chief (Petlyura), and the Tsar's soldiers have to shed their uniforms and hide.

The hero of the book is a character like Bulgakov, a doctor, whose specialty is venereal diseases. He becomes the doctor for a regiment briefly. He is wounded, escapes, and is tended by a kind woman who sees him in the street. His sister's husband, who is German, gets a ride to Germany and leaves his wife and Russia forever. She is brokenhearted.

The films have English subtitles, and I heartily recommend them.

Indeed, Miriam. Mikhail Bulgakov's connection with the Moscow Art theatre (MAT) is very clear throughout the Diaries and selected letters and there are friendly letters to both Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko asking for help. From the Diaries and selected letters we actually learn that in his early career, Bulgakov should be mainly seen as a playwright.

The pivotal year in the Diaries and selected letters is the year 1924, the year Lenin died. Before 1925, Mikhail Bulgakov was increasingly successful as his plays were staged and brought him recognition. In 1925 his diaries were confiscated, and from then on his works were neither staged nor published.

From the Diaries and selected letters we get the impression that the early 1920s were a lighter period, in which people could even make jokes about, for instance, the fate of Leon Trotsky, 1925 - 1926 are a period of confusion, in which Bulgakov seems confident in the government and sincerely unknowing and misunderstanding about what is going on, while in the later period he is aware that Stalin had enjoyed his plays, particularly "The Days of the Turbins", but Bulgakov is puzzled about the source of opposition and oppression.

I was unable to participate in the Group Read of The Master and Margarita last year, but have bought several volumes of works by Bulgakov which I may read this year.

Great reviews of Diaries and Selected Letters and Against Interpretation and other essays If only I had more time I would read both those books. I might make time for the Sontag

Catching up Edwin. Have you been taking time out to eat and sleep? I enjoyed ALL of these reviews, especially the Sontag and Falsifications. Looking forward to following your thread another year.

Thanks, Merrikay. I had a very productive start this year, but currently my mother is visiting me so there will be considerably less time spent reading this month.

Fascinating about Bulgakov's diaries etc. I am a big fan of his writing.

013 Mathilde Möhring
Finished reading: 20 January 2014



Mathilde Möhring is one of the early novels to present women's capacity to shape their own destiny, and is recognized as a novel exemplifying the emancipation of women. Mathilde Möhring grew up in poverty. Living with her mother, the decision is made to take a lodger. When Hugo presents himself, the mother is and remains doubtful, but Mathilde musters him and decides that he is the right man, not just for the room. Hugo Großmann is a student, and throughout the novel described as lacking in the ability to care well for himself. Mathilde Möhring takes it upon herself to "groom" Hugo, and it is with her support and prodding that Hugo takes up the post of mayor in a village. However, after a short while, he contracts pneumonia and dies. This setback makes Mathilde all the more determined to make something of her life. She focusses on her old ambition to study and become a teacher, thus being able to provide for herself.

Mathilde Möhring was never published during Theodor Fontane's life time. It appeared pothumously.



Other books I have read by Theodor Fontane:
Irrungen, Wirrungen

This has a certain George Gissing sound to it. I see you have The Odd Women in your library. Would you say Fontane and Gissing share some of the same concerns?
I checked but unfortunately this book does not appear to be available in English, although others by Fontane are, among them Irretrievable, which looks interesting. Are there any you would particularly recommend?

014 Ewald Tragy
Finished reading: 21 January 2014



Rainer Maria Rilke's long short story Ewald Tragy can be classified as an "artist's roman". With its dark autobiographical detail it will appeal to readers interested in the birth of the artist. The first part of the story, based on autobiographical fact, describes the peculiar relation between the young man and his father, who refuses to walk beside his son, each time crossing the street to walk alone on the pavement across, though on a parallel course. This chapter concludes with the description of a tea gathering in the family, and the choking atmosphere which oppresses the young Ewald. In the next chapter, Ewald has moved and lives on his own. He sets out to work hard as an artist. His early published work brings him into contact with an admirer, Kranz. They become friends, but it is Thalmann, not Kranz who fascinates Ewald. Thalmann is presented as a very strong, independent character, a dark power whom Ewald admires and fears.

Ewald Tragy, probably written in 1899, evokes the atmosphere of late-nineteenth century Prague or Vienna, the influence of Nietzsche and Schiele.

I am not familiar with the work of George Gissing. The Odd Women and Mathilde Möhring written at about the same time, in the early 1890s, but Mathilde Möhring remained unpublished. Fontane went back to it in 1906 / 07, but never published it in his life time.

What seems special about Mathilde is that she grew up in a household without a man; Mathilde is consequently described as a very independent spirit who takes initiative. While she is portrayed as strong, Hugo is portrayed as weak. In fact, Mathilde eventually gets better results on the examination than Hugo did, proving she is both physically and mentally superior to him.

I have not read enough by Theodor Fontane to make any recommendations, but I will certainly read more of his work.

I've read Irretrievable by Theodor Fontane, and I found the male protagonist in that novel weak as well.

>47 SassyLassy:, 50

Theodor Fontane is one of the great German authors of the Nineteenth Century, but he is barely remembered, basically only for his novel Effi Briest he wrote late in his life.

It would be interesting to know why the NYRB chose to translate and publish Unwiederbringlich (Eng. Irretrievable), Rebecca.

015 Sonnenuntergang im Prater. Fünfundfünfzig Prosastücke.
Finished reading: 25 January 2014



Sonnenuntergang im Prater. Fünfundfünfzig Prosastücke. consists of 55 short pieces of prose, selected from almost each period and each publish work by the Austrian author Peter Altenberg. Despite their variety and being written at different times between 1896 and 1913, the collection is remarkably unified, both in themes and style.

During this period, Altenberg lived the life of a Bohemian, spending his days in the coffee houses of Vienna. This period of the late Nineteenth Century and first decade of the Twentieth Century is known as the Belle Epoque, and marks the waning days of Vienna as the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Double Monarchy, which came to an end with the Great War. Thus, the title of the collection seems well-chosen: "Sonnenuntergang im Prater" or in English "Sunset in the Prater".

However, the story "Sonnenuntergang im Prater" ("Sunset in the Prater") was written in 1896; it should not be understood in a symbolist way. The work of Peter Altenberg can best be described as impressionistic. The short prose pieces are each descriptions of life in Vienna as observed by the author in those years.

Sie waren stundenlang im Grabenkiosk gesessen, letzter Augusttag, hatten Fiaker betrachtet mit Fremden, Automobile, wie Zugvögel von fernen Reisen, Damen auf dem Trottoire, die wunderbar sicher dahinglitten, und andere, die trippelten und tänzelten, um etwas Besonderes aus sich zu machen.

The work of Altenberg presents a complete picture, a glimpse into the life in Vienna at the time of the Secession. There are descriptions of people ("seltene Exemplare von Menschlein für ihre innerliche Käfersammlung"), traffic -- horse-drawn carriages as well as automobiles, parks and tree-lined boulevards, colours, scents, moods and the arts, painters and musicians. The work also captures the decadence and exotic, such as the pieces taken from Ashantee about the black African Aschanti village that was erected and on display for a year in Vienna in 1896 /7.

015 Der Spaziergang
Finished reading: 3 February 2014

In English:

Der Spaziergang is a dark, sombre piece of prose. It was written at a time when Robert Walser felt himself cut off from the cultural scene in Berlin, where in the decade before he had written his great novels.

Between 1913–1921, Robert Walser lived in Switzerland. The transition from Berlin to the quiet and rural Swiss countryside and smaller towns marks a change in the work of Walser. Since 1913, his work consists mainly of short prose compositions. However, Walser found descriptions of nature of less interest, and preferred to write about people. It was also at this time that Walser started making long walks in the countryside, sometimes by night.

A walk is a type of activity that leads to encounters with people, but of a fleeting nature. In Der Spaziergang the "I" leaves his home spurred by the desire to go for a walk. The author's mood is described as romantic and adventurous as he gets away from his writing room "dem Schreib- oder Geisterzimmer" in which he had been brooding over a blank sheet of paper filled with "Trauer, Schmerz und alle schweren gedanken", --mourning, pain and heavy thoughts. Nonetheless, the author knows that despite the elevating effect of the walk, he remains serious, and appearing to be happy, he will try to keep his true feelings hidden from other people.

The first part of the walk goes through his familiar neighbourhood, in which he greets and knows the people, however, further down the road, familiarity disappears, and the author is described as standing out in his bright yellow suit. In this "hellgelben (...) Engländer-Anzug" he thinks he look like an English Lord, a Grandseigneur or a Marquis trotting around in a park, whereas in fact he is walking on a rural road through an impoverished suburb.

In his yellow suit, Walser reminds us a little of Goethe's Werther, and in his romantic mood he revels in the sight of the countryside, despite the fact that in reality the suburb is polluted and crowded with factories.

No longer in familiar territory, moving as a stranger among strangers, Walser's throughts and ruminations become increasingly laden with imagery and language of war, and his ideas about people swing from friendly to suspicion and agression. In his dealings with a tailor, he muses that he should be prepared for a dangerous offensive war:

{Ich} rüstete mich für diesen höchst gefährlichen Angriffskrieg mit Eigenschaften, wie Mut, Trotz, Zorn, Entrüstung, Verachtung oder gar Todesverachtung aus, mit welchen ohne Zweifel sehr schätzenswerten Waffen ich der beißenden Ironie und dem Spott hinter erheuchelter Treuherzigkeit erfolgreich und siegreich entgegentreten zu können hoffte. (p. 44)

While Walser goes for a walk to set his mind free, depressing thoughts about war are never far off, and even in his most optimistic mood he still sees himself as a soldier at the front , "dem wackeren, dienstbereiten und aufopferungsfreudigen erprobten Feldsoldaten." The walker cannot escape his dark thoughts, so that sometimes, unexpectedly Heaven and Earth clash together, breaking up all order into chaos, and the author asks himself: "Where am I?"

Erde und Himmel fließen und stürzen mit einmal in ein blitzendes, schimmerndes, übereinanderwogendes, undeutliches Nebelgebilde zusammen; das Chaos beginnt, und die Ordnungen verschwinden. Der Kopf will ihm abfallen, und die sonst so lebendigen Arme und Beine sind ihm wie erstarrt. Land und Leute, Töne und Farben, Gesichter und Gestalten, Wolken und Sonnenschein drehen sich wie Schemen rund um ihn herum, und er muß sich fragen: »Wo bin ich?«. (p.58).

In his mind, the walk through the peaceful countryside becomes an ordeal, and each interaction with people is rewritten in terms of war. Gradually, the war also invades the walkers' reality. Waiting to cross a railroad track, a train passes full of soldiers and he observes a group of children with wooden rifles playing war.

Getting up to go home, Walser wonders why he picked a bunch of flowers. Was it to place them upon his unhappiness, he asks himself, as it drops from his hand.

Der Spaziergang was published in 1917. Between 1914 and 1917 Robert Walser had served in the army several times, enough to be haunted by the spectre of the Great War.



Other books I have read by Robert Walser:
Poetenleben
Seeland

I don't know why NYRB chose that particular novel to translate, Edwin. In the introduction, the translator remarks that Fontane thought it was particularly important to focus on individuals and that Irretrievable does just that. In the afterword, Phillip Lopate says that Fontane's work should be better known in English. And in the blurb on the back Thomas Mann extols Fontane. But without going back and really rereading the intro and afterword (I just glanced at them), I can't really answer your question (and maybe even then couldn't).

Getting up to go home, Walser wonders why he picked a bunch of flowers. Was it to place them upon his unhappiness, he asks himself, as it drops from his hand.

What a moving thought as a summation. My German is very limited, but the language in your quotes seems particularly suited to Walser's moods.

016 Private Angelo
Finished reading: 4 February 2014



Despite the invasion in 1943 by the Allied troops, the Nazis held on to Italy till the very last of the Second World War. The Scottish author Eric Linklater was able to observe the final years of the war in Italy in official capacity, working for the publicity department of the British War Office. Linklater spent six months in 1944 in Italy as the War Office's official historian. In 1952, he published a semi-official report about the British campaign, although his 1946 novel Private Angelo presents a much fresher and more original account of the final years of the war.

Private Angelo is repeatedly described as and self-acclaimed a soldier without courage, lacking il dono di coraggio. His claim is accepted as factual, and without any shame, throughout the novel. Angelo's fear makes most of his actions capricious, often resulting in unexpected outcomes. Thus, quite without volition, Angelo switches sides, ending up fighting for the Italians, the germans and the British in quick succession. His position changes from common soldier, to tutor of a high-ranking Nazi officer, from a POW "slave" labourer to a hero.

Not just private Angelo's fate responds to such a capricious pattern. Throughout the novel, Angelo is committed to the nobleman Count of Pontefiore, who plays a very dubious role, despite of which he gets into real trouble.

Private Angelo is a comic novel, and mostly lacks a coherent plot. The novel operates like an opera buffo. The Italian characters all take their fate with a great deal of resignation. The Nazis are portrayed as dead serious till the very end, while the British come away as largely lucky. For the Italians, there is no question about ideology or courage. They are just plain practical: survival, no matter how.

017 The mountains of California
Finished reading: 19 February 2014



John Muir spent decades trekking and exploring the magnificent nature of the United States, particularly california, British Columbia and Alaska. He turned to wrriting about his observations relatively late in life, using his notebooks and memories. The mountains of California (1894) was the first of his writing to appear in book form. It is included in Penguin Books series of Classics.

To Muir, the beauty of nature was a manifestation of God, and the nature of the United States overwhelmed him more than anything else. When Muir came to the States, much of that natural wealth was also still in pristine condition, and as danger crept in to destroy or threaten that, towrads the end of his life Muir became a great conservationalist, born out of the great naturalist he had been all his life.

The mountains of California describes nature in extatic and exhalted language. The first chapters are devoted to the landscape, and how the landscape was formed. Throughout his life, John Muir was fascinated by glaciers, and he was one of the first to realize how glaciers had sculpted the landscape, and how through their workings the great forms of mountains, valleys and lakes had come about, tens of thousands of years ago.

The largest part of the book is devoted to the forests. Muir had trained as a botanist, and this particular interest in shown in the devotion and detail with which he described the trees found on the mountains. Unlike some of his later books, Muir uses very little Latin in The mountains of California, and most plants and trees are known by their common English names. The book is mainly descriptive, and on very few occasions anecdotes are included, which make his later works so attractive. The two most endearing chapters are about the Douglas squirrel and the American Dipper, or Water Ouzel, as Muir preferred to call him.

In The mountains of California Muir clearly tries to find words to describe the magnificence of nature in ever changing and ever original ways. Muir had excellent observation skills and sensitivity to note every fragrance, sound or feature of the landscape. He also makes the reader feel how much time and experience is collected in his observations: Muir spent decades to explore and record. Thus, many of his observations come across as deeply-felt emotions.

To express himself in myriad forms, Muir uses a broad vocabulary. The mountains of California does not only express the richness and wealth of natural beauty, but is also a pleasure to read in that the text is a rich pattern.



Other books I have read by John Muir:
My first summer in the Sierra
Travels in Alaska

Not too bad, Steven, communicatively speaking. I can understand everything. Try Google or Bing translate. (I recommend this to my weakest students, too.)

Fortunately, there is an English translation for Der Spaziergang; perhaps even more than one. I leave that to you to dispute on the thread about translations, ;-)

It should be noted that, apart from major authors such as Balzac and Zola, of whose most work has appeared in translation, there are but few or no translations for many, many other authors, and even if a translation exists for some of their works, much remains untranslated. That's why it remains worthwhile to study or keep up one's languages.

018 Brigitta
Finished reading: 21 February 2015

In English:

Adalbert Stifter is another great German author whose works were read and praised by several famous German writers, including Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Rainer Maria Rilke. However, hardly any of his works have been translated and Stifter remains almost unknown to English readers, except for the novella Bergkristall (English: Rock Crystal) which appeared in translation a few years ago, published by the NYRB.

Brigitta has appeared in a translation by Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly in two editions, as Brigitta and Other Tales in the series of Penguin Classics and Brigitta, with Abdias, Limestone & the Forest Path, an edition published by Angel Books

The novels and stories of Adalbert Stifter are characterized by their intense and beautiful descriptions of nature. In Brigitta, that is the countryside and the manors of the two main characters, located in Hungary. The unspoilt wilderness of the Hungarian puszta also prepares the reader for an exceptional tale of love, as would perhaps be hard to find in the author's native Germany.

The story of Brigitta is about unrequited love. The reader's perspective is limited and guided by the observations of the unnamed narrator. The narrator travels to Hungary at the invitation of his friends, referred to as "the Major" to visit and stay with him at his manor for as long as he wishes. The narrator had met the Major during his travels in Italy, many years ago, when they were both unconcerned bachelors. On his way to the Major's manor, Uwar, the friend passes by the neighbouring manor Maroshely. The reader is brought up to date on the life of Brigitta Maroshely in a chapter that interrupts the narrative. Brigitta was born and grew up as a very ungly young woman, and was considered very lucky to marry the attractive, rich Stephan Murai. After a few years of happiness, she discovers that Murai betrayed her through an adulturous relationship. In wrath, she tells him to leave and withdrew to her ancestral manor, to take up its guardianship, which she handles with great dexterity.

The Major has lived as Brigitta's neighbour for many decades, admiring her silently. He nursed her back to health through a grave illness, and, back in the novella's narrative, she nurses the Major after he was wounded while rescuing Brigitta's handsome son, Gustav.

Brigitta is a powerful and impressive story about valor. Brigitta is no beauty in the common sense, but sometimes, beauty is found in the wilderness (Oft wird die Schönheit nicht gesehen, weil sie in der Wüste ist (p. 36). Brigitta feared that that her lover, Stephan Murai would abandon her, and therefore during their coutship, she warned him that loving her would require an unusual, higher kind of love:

Ich weiß, daß ich häßlich bin, darum würde ich eine höhere Liebe fordern, als das schönste Mädchen dieser Erde. Ich weiß es nicht, wie hoch, aber mir ist, als sollte sie ohne Maß und Ende sein. (p. 44).

The Major loves Brigitta, but is not sure whether he is worthy of her love. Brigitta strength is not only proven by her early awareness and courage, but also in her steadfastness.

Adalbert Stifter's Brigitta, published in 1844, is a story at least as compelling and beautiful in its celebration of ruggedness as Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

Brilliant reviews Edwin, and it's good to know there is an English translation of Der Spaziergang, Robert Walser as this like an excellent read for people wanting to connect with the first world war. I enjoy your reviews of those books in languages that I cannot read/understand, because it gives a glimpse of literature that will probably remain hidden for me.

Hi Edwin, I've really enjoyed perusing your German-language reads. Given that I studied German, I read shamefully little German-language literature, but there's plenty to inspire me here.

Thanks, Rebecca. I read a lot in other languages for which there is often no English translation available. There is so much "not translated into English" out there.

I had learnt French at school, but lost most language skills. I have been able to revive and keep them by reading French novels. For many years that was like less than 1 per year, but since I joined LT, I've managed to read 10 or more than 10 books in French each year.

019. Killer in the rain
Finished reading: 22 February 2014



The obvious advantage of the Penguin Modern Classics mini-series is that each volume offers a taste of an author at a very low price. Thus, Killer in the rain offers the title story of what was originally published as a short story collection in a slim, small-size pocket book.

Killer in the rain is a detective story with elements of murder and blackmail. The style of writing brings together a number of features which have long since become the cliche hall-marks of the detective genre. Perhaps the style of Chandler's fiction is a tat more literary than the regular pulp.

An interesting diversion in a genre I do not usually prefer to select my readings from.

020. April, Nutzlos vertan
Finished reading: 23 February 2014



Klaus Mann, son of Thomas Mann led a short, and chaotic life, which ended in an early death, at the age of 43, of an overdose of sleeping tablets. His homosexuality had already caused problems while he still lived in Germany during the rise of fascism, and in 1934 the Nazis stripped him of the German nationality, forcing him into exile. Traveling on Dutch and Czechoslovak identity papers for a few years, till he obtained US citizenship in 1943, having lived in the US with his parents since 1938. This floating existence, permanently financially dependent on his father, led to depression and suicidal tendencies, to which he succumbed in 1949.

Klaus Mann's work occupies a peculiar place in German literature, in many ways that of an outsider. During his stay in the United States, after 1938, Klaus Mann started writing and publishing short stories in English, which were at first polished by Christopher Isherwood. These stories take up a niche between the short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Burroughs.

April, Nutzlos vertan consists of four short stories, "Wert der Ehre", "April, nutzlos vertan", "Speed" and "Hennessy mit drei Sternen". The first two stories were originally published in German. This occasional publication does not mention the source of the short stories, nor their original publication dates. It is likely that "Wert der Ehre" and "April, nutzlos vertan", the latter also known as "Der Liebende" appeared in Maskenscherz, which consists of the early short stories up until 1933. They reflect the experience of the 'lost generation' of the 1920. "April, nutzlos vertan" relates the despair of a young man's procrastination. Desperate to set himself and realize an ambitious plan to get started on a number of things to do, he finds that the month is gone, another month gone by without any achievement.

It is not clear whether "Speed" and "Hennessy mit drei Sternen" were published in Klaus Mann's life-time or whether they first appeared in Speed. Die Erzählungen aus dem Exil, a post-humous collection of the short stories written between 1933 - 1943, which first appeared in 1990, or whether they were written during Mann's ultimate years. The fact that they were written in English suggests they were written after 1938. In this publication, they were translated into German.

"Speed" is the longest of the four stories. It is the story of two drug addicts who latch themselves onto an immigrant, like a pair of leeches, and drain on him for money to finance their addiction. Fear of getting into trouble with immigration, the immigrant, Mr Kroll, refrains from going to the police, allowing the two addicts to keep coming back for loans that are never repaid with ever more ludicrous excuses as it increasingly becomes clear that he is deceived.

"Speed" was written several years before Burroughs' Junky appeared in 1953. The origins of Klaus Mann's addiction can be traced to his experiments with morphine in late 1929, before becoming addicted to hashish following a trip to Morocco in 1930. His drug habit led to a severe addiction and dependence on heroin during the 1940s.



Other books I have read by Klaus Mann:
Mephisto. Roman einer Karriere
Der fromme Tanz
Kind dieser Zeit

21. The enchafèd flood, or the Romantic iconography of the sea
Finished reading: 24 February 2014



Auden's The enchafèd flood, or the Romantic iconography of the sea has appeared in the series of Page-Barbour Lectures at the University of Virginia (1949) and conssist of three lectures entitled "The Sea and the Desert", "The Stone and the Shell", and Ishmael–Don Quixote". As they were collected and prepared for publication in book form, the lectures may have been expanded of beefed up, but essentially are characterised by a very free, associative style, bringing vast amounts of facts and imagery together, which makes the reading of these lectures like the opening up of a cabinet of curios. As a celebrated author and poet, W.H. Auden, then aged 42, brings a treasure of reading and contemplation of literary imagination to the fore, both dazzling and inspiring. The lectures are brimful ideas. They are difficult to read, but very rewarding for the intellectual and experienced reader.

In the first lecture, Auden explores the imagery of "The Sea" and "The Desert" showing how the latter can be seen as a variant of the first, and later on how "the stone" and "the shell" are parallel images in these traditions. He shows how the imagery of the sea / desert in the Romantic tradition represents an escape from the vested order of the society, its norms, values, and responsibility. These ideas are explored in the context of the iconography of the sea / desert, such as islands, oases, and ships. Ideas are highlighted and illustrated citing from a vast range of poetry, including wonderful poems such as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The enchafèd flood, or the Romantic iconography of the sea is of particular interest to readers of Melville's Moby Dick. Auden brings together a store of ideas on how to read Moby Dick at a symbolic level, such as pointing out the significance of the number and the names of the nine ships the Pequod encounters before hunting down the whale.

The enchafèd flood, or the Romantic iconography of the sea is a rather thin volume, which makes for some very stimulating and inspiring reading and re-reading.



Other books I have read by W.H. Auden:
Academic graffiti (In memoriam Ogden Nash)
Journey to a war

022. Land der Kunst und Musik – Chinesische Traumsuche in Österreich
Finished reading: 26 February 2014



There is a vast wealth of books written about China, and among these have appeared numerous travelogues by visitors to China. While there has been a constant stream of publication ever since the earliest visits of starting with Marco Polo, followed by books and journals from both illustrious and obscure travelers to China, through virtually all ages particularly during the past 150 years. Even at times of great turmoil and civil war, including the most recent episode of the Cultural Revolution, foreign authors travelled to China and recorded their observations.

This plethora of travel writing about China is met with a paucity of reciprocal visits and publications on the Chinese side. The Chinese adhere to a strong notion that turning away from the motherland or looking too insistently over its borders constitutes a form of betrayal, and particularly during the first recent period of intense engagement between China and the West, the Chinese were loth to travel, and showed little interest in the West.

The past 100 years saw two moments when China opened up and looked for inspiration across its borders. The first time was during the first quarter of the Twentieth Century, which saw a period of modernization. Under the influence of the "May Fourth Movement", now also often referred to as the "New Culture Movement" (1915 -1923), Chinese intellectuals looked at Japan for inspiration to modernize China. However, this period was soon followed by World War II, a de-facto civil war and after the victory of the new Communist leadership the country was once more closed down for many decades, with Chinese people being virtually completely banned from overseas travel. Only since the early 1980s, and the beginning of China's "Opening Up" policies, Chinese people have increasingly been able to travel overseas.

Land der Kunst und Musik – Chinesische Traumsuche in Österreich spans this 100-year period, exploring the engagement of Chinese authors with Austria in nine essays and travelogues written by Chinese writers who spent time in Vienna and Salzburg. The first contribution, also the longest, comes from Liu Simu (1904～1985). In his youth, Liu Simu actively joined the New Culture Movement. In 1932, he studied at the Department of Economics, University of Vienna (Austria). In his essay he describes the political atmosphere in Vienna looming under the rise of the Austrian Nazis. Although the essays was written in 1933 /4 it was not published in China until 1937.

All other contributions in this volume date from after the Opening Up of China in 1978, with the largest number written and published during the first decade of the Twenty-First Century. Some of the contributions, such as that by Shi Jian are shockingly pragmatic: the spirit of the early years of the opening up was that public funds should be spent to the benefit of the motherland, and thus the essay is a descriptive catalog of differences between Austria and China, citing practical examples of how China could learn from Austria. Later contributions are much more relaxed, but do not rise above the level of ordinary tourism, with the authors describing the sights of Vienna, and a sampling of its food, wine and culture. As a result, there is also a lot of overlap between the essays, as they all describe the same touristic hot-spots and share in the same, standard tourist experiences. The essay by Zhang Jie is noticeably the most literary. it is well-written and engaging, focusing less on the cliche sight-seeing aspect of the trip, but rather on remarkable people she encountered and their interaction with the Chinese people in the delegation. This makes the essay of interest to both Chinese and Western readers.

All essays and contributions in Land der Kunst und Musik – Chinesische Traumsuche in Österreich were originally written and published in Chinese. Their significance is mainly that they form a part of Chinese travel writing, and may be of specific interest to Chinese readers. However, it is not very clear of what interest these essays might be to Western readers. Apart from the contribution by Liu Simu, which is of historical interest, and Zhang Jie who is well-known as an author in the West, and whose contribution has clear literary value, the other essays and contributions appear dull and of little interest to Western audiences. By Western standards the writing of these contributions id of a low quality, and rather boring, giving readers hardly anything to think about. They are descriptions of travel itineraries and offer no insight into their author's minds. The only surprising point is possibly that all travelers seem to enjoy Austria's coffee and wine culture, which particularly before 2008 was barely sampled in China.

Land der Kunst und Musik – Chinesische Traumsuche in Österreich has appeared in a bi-lingual edition, at the instigation of the Düsseldorf University Press, in cooperation with the Chinese Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP). The book has appeared as the first volume in a series "Schriften des Konfuzius-Instituts Düsseldorf - Belletristische und Künstlerische Reihe". This series is proposed as the academic leg of the activities of the German Confucius Institute, the cultural representative organization to spread the knowledge of Chinese language and culture.

The first two volumes in this series have appeared under the general editorship of Li Xuetao, with an introduction by the German sinologist Wolfgang Kubin.

Very interesting reviews, as usual.

Good to see you back posting again Edwin. The enchafed flood, or the Romantic Iconography of the sea holds the most interest for me, but I was also interested to learn a little about Klaus Mann

Interesting point about the one way traffic on travel writing and China. A book on Chinese intellectuals and their experiences in France in the early part of the twentieth century would be appreciated.
On another note, The Enchafèd Flood sounds intriguing.
Looking at your other reviews, February was definitely a rewarding reading month for you.

>>

The enchafèd flood, or the Romantic iconography of the sea is absolutely recommended reading for anyone who wants to read or re-read Moby Dick. The attracttion of Auden's small book is that it offers tools, materials and suggestions for possible analyses of Melville's novel, rather than a complete analysis and explanation. In this sense, The enchafèd flood is very inspirational. It points the way to more venues of symbolism in the novel which is so heavily laden with facts about whaling.

023. Kai
Finished reading: 3 March 2014



Robert Vacher is sufficiently obscure to the staff of Biblion to assume that he is a Flemish author. Perhaps, this assumption was the result of the fact that one of the main characters of the novel Kai cites a small city in Flanders as his home-base. For all the rest, the background of the characters and the novel, particularly the colonial past, refers strongly to a Dutch cultural background, while at the same time the novel tries to obscure, and the characters seem to deny that background.

Kai is an adventure novel in which the search for the other blends into a search for the self. The unnamed narrator, or "I" in the novel travels to Portugal, and there hooks up with Kai Deville. The main character is fascinated by Kai, who seems all that he is not, and can do all that which he only dreams of. Kai is Dutch (or Flemish) but does not seem to be, as he is swarthy-Mediterranean, which is later explained by his mixed parentage, Dutch-Indonesian. He lives life to the fullest extent, and is free of materialism. Kai is an Einzelganger a type of egotism which is aimed at the full realization of the self without hurt to others, and in many cases a necessity of pure survival, as Kai always seems to live on the fringe, and survival often depends on luck or hospitality of others. Kai seems to despise money, and lives with an apparent contempt for death.

After their initial meeting in Portugal, the two friends lose sight of each other. The narrator is then asked by Kai's family to trace down Kai's mother in Indonesia, and subsequently find Kai. He succeeds at doing both, through travels taking him to Southeast Asia, Indonesia and India. Although the narrator's travels are sponsored by Kai's relatives, he tries to emulate Kai's lifestyle, and quite succeeds at that, with growing confidence. However, Kai does not want to be found, and particularly does not want to be pinned down. He evades the narrator and disappears. As his name suggests, Deville is a bit of a devil, or at least a fallen angel. Although the narrator is not much described, he may be assumed quite different from Kai in the physical sense, and their physical difference creates a slight erotic tension, which is countermanded by various insertions suggestion that both young men are heterosexual. Clearly, the author wants the reader to focus on a purer form of friendship.

Kai is a wonderful novel, which traces back to ideals of the 1970s, and is therefore dated. Kai, the "struinende wolf" of the first part of the novel reminds the reader of Hermann Hesse's Der Steppenwolf, while the novel opens vistas on the rich cultural variety, nature and climate of the Mediterranean and particularly Asia, both its beautiful and ugly sides, richness and destitution and the vast differences between people, all elements of which Dutch culture is devoid.

024. The Swiss Family Robinson
Finished reading: 3 March 2014



Nowadays, a work such as The Swiss Family Robinson would be considered an unacceptable rip-off of Robinson Crusoe. What is puzzling still is what lends it the status of a classic, if not its apparently staggering sales.

Devoid of originality, what more (except for sales) does a book need to become a classic. Presently, both Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson are mainly read, whether or not in adapted editions as children's books. The latter was intended to be a book for children, while the former was not. It is difficult to assess whether youth would consider Defoe's novel distressing or difficult to understand.

From a pedagogical point of view, that is to say, children would probably learn more words and concepts from The Swiss Family Robinson as the author deliberately enriched it with vocabulary, referring to various plants and animals, which could not have lived together on a island as described.

Where the island of Robinson Crusoe would appear alien and dangerous, the island of The Swiss Family Robinson would seem familiar, surroundings essentially not much different from the reader's home surroundings. Both Robinsons were happy to get shipwrecked with some supplies and tools they could salvage from the wreck, but in the case of the The Swiss Family Robinson they were able to salvage so much and so many essentially luxury items that their experience on the island is not very distressing. The same attention for luxury is expressed in the idea of constructing a spiral staircase in their shelter (p. 162) and preparing a meal of caviare (p. 176).

025. Exterminator!
Finished reading: 3 March 2014



Exterminator! is a totally incoherent storm of rage. For most readers it will be void of meaning, while others may claim it embraces the world (including references to "the Little People").



Other books I have read by William S. Burroughs:
And the hippos were boiled in their tanks
Junky. The definitive text of 'Junk'
The wild boys. A book of the dead
The Western lands

026. The Resurrection Club
Finished reading: 4 march 2014



It does not often happen that a book completely eludes me, but The Resurrection Club is a good example.

The book has a confusing structure, consisting of narrative interspersed with interviews and so-called 'file notes'. The names of the main characters are not introduced until far into the book, and I simply never recovered from the initial confusion (and unwilling to reread, although I did go back, but simply could not catch on). The novel seems to skit between different genres, detective, horror, etc. Besides the confusing structure, the book also introduces different typographical fragments, and makes excessive use of italics.

It seems the author is completely obsessed with his tale and deceit, but unable or unwilling to present his material in an accessible to the reader.

Three terrible books in a row. I hope your next few books are perfect to make up for it. I read The Swiss Family Robinson as a child, more than once, but I do remember how easily they came upon anything they might need. Even as a ten year old I knew it was silly when they discovered bananas on the island and dismissed them since they didn't like them.

Sadly, no. I read quite a number of poor books over the past few months.

In April, there was a short holiday, during which I did an overhaul of my catalogue, which, mind you!, is still incomplete. I established that I own at least 5460 physical books, of which I marked 4395 as "To Be Read" (incomplete). These are the current figures.

In late April, I went through my books, and have started thinning my shelves, to the effect of abandoning some books, e.g. C by Tom McCarthy and The Museum of Innocence by Pamuk and throwing out books which will most likely be disappointing.

Over the past 10 years, I bought and acquired far too many books, and because of the limited choice, I often bought books I might not have bought if I had had more choice. These days, a very well-stocked new chain of bookstores, Page One, has opened in Beijing, and they have much better books on offer.

I also acquired too many books through BookMooch (1240+ in just under 3 years), free expat libraries etc.

Through my participation in Club Read, I have been able to boost my reading considerably, and it has become overwhelmingly clear that I am usually disappointed in contemporary fiction, especially by new authors, while I find more satisfaction in Classics. So, I have decided to throw out all books by David Foster Wallace, including the never begun Infinite jest and all books by Neil Stephenson among many others. For some authors, I keep their apparent master works, but got rid of minor works, when at least some of those minor works had been disappointing, such as Louise Rinser and Vicky Baum.

I have also thrown out quite a lot of non-fiction, especially trying to go back to my original restrictions of book-buying. I threw out ten 600+ pp. tomes about WWII and the Holocaust, I have thrown out a similar number of books about Islam, mostly bought in the wake of 9-11 and several books which are now out of date.

My next round of thinning will focus on going back on my original areas of interest, which means I will throw out all books on India and Japan, and non-fiction on topics such as the Mayas, Africa, Economics, etc.

I may have to be more strict with myself; so far, I have thrown out about 300 books. My aim is to clear out at least another 300 books.

Hopefully, the quality of my remaining books will turn out to be higher.

>PS

The difference between March and February (you were right, Sassy, February was very rewarding) can be explained because my February reading consists of books I selected and took with me to my home in South China. They were handpicked choices I knew I would like.

Early March, back in Beijing, I got back into reading what's on the shelves in Beijing.

Whoa that's some clear out Edwin. I can sympathise with your feelings about contemporary fiction and chucking out C is something you won't regret.

>78 edwinbcn: I so admire your massive clearning out! I'm getting closer everyday an you have inspired me.

Wow, those reviews have come thick and fast. I especially like your review of Exterminator!.

Going back to #64, I try to read a handful of books in French or German each year, but it can be difficult to motivate myself, as there are so many books in English I would like to read and, of course, there's no shortage of them here.

It's a shame you have to clear out so many books, but I can see how a TBR pile of 4395 (or more) is a bit daunting! Given the speed of my reading, my TBR pile of just under 200 books is a worry to me...

027. Eminent Victorians
Finished reading: 8 March 2014



Eminent Victorians is a truly interesting book of biography, which, however, appeals less and less to modern readership. Its remarkable and unique quality depends on the literacy of its readers, and as the Victorian Age is now quite remote, most of the sublime power of the book is obscure to the general readership.

To a general readership, Eminent Victorians may appear rather boring, as it presents four, short but rather dense biographies. The biographies of these four people, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Thomas Arnold and General Charles George Gordon, are barely informative enough to learn the most basic biographical facts about their lives. Instead, each biography tries to debunk the myth surrounding each of these people.

To Edwardian and early modern readers (the book was published in 1918), these figures of the Victorian Age would have been household names. To modern contemporary readers of the early Twenty-First Century, however, most are unknown, with the exception of Florence Nightingale. The original appeal and interest of Eminent Victorians will merely exist for readers with a more than broad interest and knowledge of the Victorian Age, but even for them it is of interest to know what to look for in the book.

The most accessible two biographies, which are still largely self-contained are the biographies of Florence Nightingale and General Gordon. Almost everyone had heard of Florence Nightingale, who is mainly remembered for her unrelenting devotion to care for the sick and wounded. However, as Lytton Strachey shows, this is a myth, a reputation based on a false image. Shattering that image, as Strachey shows Florence Nightingale in a much better light. In fact, Ms Nightingale benefits from Strachey more truthful description. The image that had been created around the popular figure of Florence Nightingale was that of a caring nurse, basically the ideal stereotype of the Victorians for women, an image that did no justice to Ms Nightingale as an oustanding organizer and manager. Lytton Strachey's revaluation of Florence Nightingale, ahead of emancipation and feminism, lifts Ms Nightingale in our esteem, the realization of which forms quite a remarkable chute.

In a similar way, the heroic General Gordon is shown to be a buffoon. This becomes entirely evident from reading Strachey's short biography as all elements to make that deconstruction are contained within the text.

The biographies of Cardinal Manning and Dr Thomas Arnold are written along similar lines, but possibly less accessible as these figures appeal less to our imagination, and are less well remembered.

Each of the four biographies has a length of about 50 pages. A short-cut to understanding and appreciation of reading Eminent Victorians might be achieved by only reading the biographies of Florence Nightingale and General Gordon.

028. Rapture
Finished reading: 12 March 2013



As in modern sculpture, carftmanship is despised, modern sculpture is often nothing more than coarse, un-worked materials on a pile, lacking design, composition, structure, or embellishment, likewise, in modern poetry, anything goes. Thus, aspiring for beauty is obviously 'old hat'.

According to the blurb Rapture "is a map of real love". In Love poems that "real love" consisted mostly in adultery. In Rapture love is quite banal.

The poems have a rythmic quality and song-like repetitiveness. They are pleasant to read, but one assumes there might be 13 to a dozen.

There are probably plenty of people who like this type of down-to-earth poetry, which may explain why Carol Ann Duffy is Poet Laureate.



Other books I have read by Carol Ann Duffy:
Love poems

029. The comedians
Finished reading: 13 March 2014



Couleure locale or ambience in literature is often used by authors to create a pleasant back-drop to the story. The novels of Graham Greene are often characterised as foregrounding character, while the background is considered less important. However, The comedians uses the back-drop of the Haiti at the time of 'Papa Doc' Duvalier as a grim background that adds significantly to the grimness of the story.

The expat-milieu is dotted with peculiar characters, although Greene has clearly chosen or created quite larger-than-life characters in Major Jones, Mr Brown and the Smiths. The story of these characters is not so complicated, although the telling of the story in this particular novel is not so clear.

Anyone who has lived as an expat, will recognize the fluke-like quality of characters such as those described in the novel. The acronym F.I.L.T.H, meaning "Failed in London, try Hongkong" is supposedly well-known. However, The comedians would not be half as hilarious if the story developed against the back-drop of Hong Kong.

In the introduction to this edition, by Paul Theroux, Graham Greene is described as having a knack for seeking out "troubled" countries. It would be typical for a Greene novel to develop on the postulate that a shady place would attract shady characters.

The comedians is a somewhat laborious read.



Other books I have read by Graham Greene:
Travels with my aunt
Ways of escape
Dr. Fischer of Geneva or the bomb party
The Ministry of Fear. An entertainment
May we borrow your husband? and Other comedies of the sexual life
The quiet American
The end of the affair
A sort of life
A sense of reality
The tenth man
The honorary consul

030. The late bourgeois world
Finished reading: 15 march 2014



The late bourgeois world by Nadine Gordimer is a short, brave novel that reads like an entirely sincere and authentic chronicle of Apartheid in South Africa. The novel explores the theme of courage, and taking a (moral) stand in a political and dangerous situation.

Liz lives with Graham. They are both opposed to Apartheid, but their resistance is passive. Max, Liz's former husband, was a militant and radical freedom fighter, who spent time in prison, as he was caught with self-fabricated explosives. After his release, Max committed suicide. Liz has difficulty convincing her son that his father was not a loser, and that in fact, he was a hero, who fought on the right side.

Liz loyalty to the cause is put to the test when she is asked to help the movement. What she is asked to do seems easy, a means to make a contribution to the movement. The risk is small, but the risk is there.

The title of the novel, The late bourgeois world, is explained through a reference to a book, that postulates that one world must necessarily exist in relation to another world: "Defining one, you assume the existence of the other. So both are part of a total historical phenomenon." (p. 101)

In 1966, the title of the book, and indeed its content, must have had quite a world of significance added to it. The book itself could be considered a self-fabricated explosive. For it's unmistakable political message, it was banned in South Africa for more than a decade.

The power of The late bourgeois world can still be felt, even though Apartheid ended in South Africa. However, the books theme of moral courage, is timeless.



Other books I have read by Nadine Gordimer:
Beethoven was one-sixteenth black. And other stories

031. The daydreamer
Finished reading: 18 March 2014



The world of small children is essentially illogical, chaotic and distorted. That is the lasting appeal of Alice in Wonderland.

Ian McEwan achieves something very similar in The daydreamer. However, McEwan's book is too dense, and too difficult to make it as enjoyable and relaxing as Alice in Wonderland, perhaps because the Vintage edition is not illustrated. The little boy in the book, Peter, also seems more world-wise than Alice, or his name-sake Peter Pan.

Reading a children's book requires quite some patience, and the willingness to enter the world of children. In that sense, The daydreamer does not seem as accessible as other children's books.



Other books I have read by Ian McEwan:
The comfort of strangers
Solar
Saturday
Black dogs
On Chesil Beach
The cement garden
The Innocent, or the special relationship
The child in time
Enduring love
In between the sheets
Atonement
Amsterdam

>86 edwinbcn: Had to order that one. I find it so intriguing reading about people who face and make hard choices while I sit on my couch reading about it. paperback swap had a copy!

You will not regret it, Merrikay.

I read SassyLassy's review of The late bourgeois world on March 5, and bought my copy later on the same day (I am not sure if this is correct, regarding the time zones....) otherwise purchase on the same day would be seredipity.

>89 edwinbcn: oh I'm so glad you mention that! I accidentally clicked ignore her thread on my small touchscreen, meaning to star it! I'm so happy to find it again because I loved her reviews in the past and we have a lot of books in common. I can't wait to read Bourgeois!

The book itself could be considered a self-fabricated explosive.

Wonderful remark.

Being a fan of Lytton Strachey's, I've wondered how Eminent Edwardians: Four Figures who Defined their Age: Northcliffe, Balfour, Pankhurst, Baden-Powell might compare. Being also lazy, I mention this in case someone else (you, for instance) is curious about any of these characters and comes across this book. ;)

Edwin, I enjoyed The Comedians much more than you did. I thought that Greene caught brilliantly the claustrophobia of living under a totalitarian regime like Papa Doc. It is a dark novel and the observations on the ex-pat community felt just right.

From your review it sounded like you could not get into it.

I am not sure whether I would like reading Eminent Edwardians. I know close to nothing about Northcliffe, Balfour, Pankhurst, and Baden-Powell, so if the structure and the intent of the book is similar to Eminent Victorians, the humour would be lost on me. To get the same effect on readers, the biographies should be more contemporary, somethin like Eminent Neo-Liberals: President Reagan, Alan Greenspan, General Pinochet, Dr Dawkins.

5-stars is very high for The Comedians, Barry.

Basically, I don't like the novels of Graham Greene very much. His novels and stories do not interest me very much, and there is little pleasure in reading them. Although I can distinguish different types of pleasure for my reading, Greene's novels rarely satify my reading. I recall a conversation with a friend during my students days. He much preferred novels of character, and he specifically liked the dilemma's between good and evil, etc in Greene's novels. At that time, I preferred a beautiful or interesting couleure locale over character study, instead preferring, for instance, the novels by Evelyn Waugh.

I read The Comedians, now, in reaction to the discussion about that novel on Kidzdoc's thread two months ago. I do not agree with the idea that Greene's novels are racist. I am sure that many mediocre writers of that period were extremely racist, but that's why they have completely disappeared and are no longer read. I think Greene was quite modern at that time, often suggesting interracial relationships between a light-skinned British woman and local men of colour, such as the immensely pleasurable and sex-driven relationship between Aunt Augusta and Wordsworth in Travels with my Aunt. I believe there's something like that in The Comedians, too, but I did not jot down the page.

My review is partly an answer to Kidzdoc, in the sense that Greene was not very interested or knew little about the Haitians, and simply used the island and the political situation as a back-drop.

My avarage rating for novels by Graham Greene is 2.5 stars. Usually, because the story is murky and uninteresting (to me) and in the case of The Comedians, I found it hard to follow the story-line. The books I liked most by Greene were A sort of life (biography), May we borrow your husband? and Other comedies of the sexual life (short stories) and Travels with my aunt (humourous novel).

I keep reading Graham Greene to find the better ones.

032. Swimming in a sea of death. A son's memoir
Finished reading: 19 March 2014



I could echo what Stephen Nimer or Jerome Groopman or Fred Appelbaum said, though I certainly must have gotten a good bit wrong.

A fairly random sentence from Swimming in a sea of death. A son's memoir, the book in which David Rieff describes the final nine months of Susan Sontag's, his mother, suffering and death from cancer.

Very little is said about Susan Sontag. She is the object of this journalistic report about her death. Instead of a throng of anonymous doctors around the bed, the author names them, all. The result is a dry and dull description, full of people who do not really matter.

Susan Sontag's journals, which are now being published, with the first of three volumes having appeared, is very careful about disclosing personal details about herself. It is very unlikely she would have approved of this type of memoir.

Swimming in a sea of death brings Susan Sontag down to the level of mortals. It shows that in death, we are all equal. The memoir is a gruesome read, that shows us that doctors are, in fact, still powerless in the face of many forms of cancer.

033. The uncharted heart
Finished reading: 20 March 2014



In 1995, Margaret Atwood published Strange things. The malevolent north in Canadian literature, a lecture series which she had given in Oxford during the 1990s. Each essay deals with fragmented pieces of history, legend, facts and lore of Canada. Some of these essays may have inspired Melissa Hardy to write her short-story collection, The uncharted heart.

The uncharted heart consists of eight stories, set in the decade between 1905 and 1915, in Ontario, Canada. The author found inspiration for her stories on a visit to the family of her husband in Timmins. Possible sources are probably local oral traditions, legendary Native American figures, local legends or memories of local people tracing back to the era of the gold rush around Porcupine lake.

The eight stories are all spooky. Two of them deal with legendary creatures from local Native American folklore, the weendigo, a demonic being featured in legends of the Algonquian peoples, and the nebaunaube, a kind of mermaid in the oral tradition of the Ojibway. Two stories deal with halucinations under the influence of morphine. The first story, "Lightning" seems based on a combination of superstition and possibly a core of a local legend: is is a fantastically weird story. The most gruesome story is probably that of the burnt heifer.

Melissa Hardy is excellent at creating suspense, developing each story slowly to a climax at its end.

034. De kleine blonde dood
Finished reading: 21 March 2014



De kleine blonde dood is a touching novel about fatherhood. The author, Boudewijn Büch appears as a character in the novel, which seems autobiographical, although reality and the plot are divergent.

The plot consists of two story lines. The first relates of the relationship between Boudewijn and his father, Rainer Büch. The father is portrayed in an extreme and exaggerated fashion, schizophrenic and quite positively mad. In the father's mind, World War II never ended, and the Germans are the eternal enemy. Nonetheless, father and son enjoy a special, truly loving relationship. Despite all and everything, Rainer seems to be a good father to Boudewijn.

In the second story line, Boudewijn is shown to be a good father to his son, Micky. His life-style seems compatible with good fathership. Unfortunately, Micky dies during a weekend Boudewijn is not there, and the child stays with his alcoholic ex-wife. This casts a shadow, and the question arises whether Boudewijn neglected or is to blame for the boy's death.



Other books I have read by Boudewijn Büch:
De blauwe salon. Berichten omtrent leven en wedervaren van een jongeman. In het licht gegeven door Lothar G. Mantoua
Het geheim van Eberwein

035. Fabula Rasa, proeve van objectief dagboek
Finished reading: 21 March 2014



Fabula Rasa, proeve van objectief dagboek by the Belgian author Gaston Burssens is an experimental prose collection. It consists of 58 short prose fragments in grouped in two parts, fabulae fictae and fabulae veraces. These fragments are said to form a selection from hundreds such fragments written between 1925 and 1955, presented in no particular order. Some, or all, of the fragments are in fact plagiarized text fragments, said to be taken from Apollinaire, Aragon, Franz Kafka, Paul van Ostaijen, Claude Le Petit and August Vermeylen.

However, the fragments are not the most important part of the work. The author's introduction to part 1, the introduction to part 2, intermissions and the afterword, form the real core of the work. These text fragments explain the importance of style.

Enjoying catching up with your varied reading! Sorry you haven't been enjoying it more.

The Uncharted Heart looks good,

Thanks for taking the time to talk about Graham Greene. I like the way you describe some of his stories as murky. That is an excellent word for Greene.

If you can face another Greene you might like Monsignor Quixote not so murky and genuinely funny.

Apparently you enjoyed The Comedians about as much as I did, Edwin. My labeling of Greene as racist was probably a bit harsh and unfair, but it did rub me the wrong way. I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to read anything by him in the near future.

On the other hand The Late Bourgeois World sounds like a book I would enjoy, so I'll add it to my wish list and look for it soon.

Hi Edwin, I've just been absorbed in your thread and catching up with your reading. There is much of interest here. Here are a few of your reviews which I cannot resist mentioning:

Frog Music is going on my wish list immediately. I lived in San Francisco for almost 40 years and love to read books that are set there. Excellent review!

Re Julian Barnes, you might also enjoy The History of the World in 10½ Chapters, if you can get hold of it. I too enjoyed Flaubert's Parrot. Sense of an Ending didn't please me as much as the other two.

The Enchafèd Flood sounds absolutely fascinating. I'll bet it is not easy to come by, but I will look for it. Excellent review!

I remember Eminent Victorians for the shock effect it had on me when I read it at a much younger age. You intimate that it is good to get a second opinion about the subjects of Strachey's lacerating prose, and I agree. Since I am an American, the part about the upheavals concerning the Anglican Church were a revelation. After all, what did I know? For that matter, what do I know even yet? But that's why we read, isn't it? ;-)

Very enjoyable thread, Edwin!

Thoroughly enjoying catching up on your thread. I've not read The Late Bourgeois World, but Gordimer's Burger's Daughter is one of my all-time favorite books.

I've been meaning to read Eminent Victorians for years -- really must get to it soon.

036. Een heel klein scheepje
Finished reading: 22 March 2014



Een heel klein scheepje (Eng. "A tiny boat") is a short experimental novel by the female Flemish author Chris Yperman. The novel is written, using charged, poetic language, which, at times, makes understanding difficult, and creates a magic atmosphere. There is not much of a story, and, published in 1959, the novel's main idea, that women can take the initiative to seek out sexual pleasure, and sustain sexual relationships with two men, was still a bit scandalous at the time.

Re-reading is recommended to make the most of this wonderful short novel.

037. Through the window. Seventeen essays and a short story
Finished reading: 29 March 2014



For short, Through the window, is a much more readable collection of literary criticism than, for instance, Something to declare. The latter could not well be appreciated unless the reader, like its author, has a passion for France and the French, and even then, Barnes erudition and tongue-in-cheek humour are not always easy to follow.

Through the window. Seventeen essays and a short story demonstrates that essays by Julian Barnes can intrigue readers. The proportion of pages devoted to French literature is just under a third, and the choice of French authors, around Flaubert is sufficiently interesting to interest the general reader.

Julian Barnes erudition and subtlety remains in tact, through his unconventional choice of topics for the other essays, and the depth with which they are dealt with. Thus, three essays are devoted to Ford Maddox Ford, linking the author of The Good Soldier to France in the second essay "Ford and Provence". Likewise, twin essays "Kipling's France" and "France's Kipling" establish such a relationship. In previous essays, Barnes had already written about the motoring tours of the wealthy Edith Wharton and the financially less fortunate Henry James in tow, now revisted in an essay about Wharton's novel The Reef.

The final sixty-odd pages are devoted to American authors, in essays about Hemingway, John Updike and a touching essay about Joyce Carol Oates dramatic autobiography A Widow's Story.

The essay collection also contains a short story. While the story itself was not very interesting, its effect on the composition of the collection as a whole was startling: it turned the volume into a mêlée of fact and fiction.



Other books I have read by Julian Barnes:
Something to declare
Pulse
Levels of life
Love, etc.
The lemon table
Flaubert's parrot
Metroland

038. Cat's cradle
Finished reading: 2 April 2014



A few years ago, the remark that Kurt Vonnegut is over-rated and that he would never have become such a famed author had he been born in Europe, unleashed the ire of the Americans I had lunch with. While they were not particularly known for their reading habits, it seemed they considered my comment as a head-on attack on American culture. Like Helene Hanff, Vonnegut is a second-rate, B-writer whose fame rests mainly on American pride.

Cat's cradle has now appeared in the Penguin Modern Classics series, which may well be taken as a tribute. Vonnegut's writing does not seem to have its equal in other American authors, but his style is vaguely reminiscent to some psychedelic Dutch authors who wrote during the 1960s and 70s, such as Ward Ruyslinck.

Vonnegut seems the be the type, to have possibly written his novels, particularly Cat's cradle, under the influence of some psychedelic stimulant. Given the paranoia in the Land of Freedom to admitting as much, we will supposedly never know, but admission could explain the incoherent structure of the novel.

Cat's cradle seemed quite interesting for about the first 50+ pages, but then disintegrated into a lot of twaddle, of which it was impossible to connect head and tail.

Best soon to be forgotten, or not picked up at all.



Other books I have read by Kurt Vonnegut:
Fates worse than death. An autobiographical collage
A man without a country. A memoir of life in George W. Bush's America

039. Studio
Finished reading: 3 April 2014



Philippe Sollers novels that are written in the first person singular have a dream-like quality, combining characteristics from essays, biography and autobiography. Studio starts of with the spleen of the narrator, describing a time of his life when he experiences loneliness. In this state of solitude, his mind wanders over the entire spectrum of the human condition, a universe of thought that is fuelled by and inspired through the reading of Un saison en enfer and Illuminations, the two most well-known poetical works by Arthur Rimbaud. Gradually, the novel takes the shape of a biography of Rimbaud, quoting from his works and describing his life through his own words and those of his contemporaries, particularly Friedrich Hölderlin.



Other books I have read by Philippe Sollers:
Les folies françaises

040. Britten's children
Finished reading: 6 April 2014



Benjamin Britten's interest in young men is a part of his life that was downplayed in biographies, such as Humphrey Carpenter's 1992 Benjamin Britten: A Biography. Britten's interest in boys, however, was not only a personal matter, but formed an evasive part of his activities as a composer, with many works written for or to include either many roles for boys or choirs of boy's voices. At the same time, this interest and the relations Britten had with many, many boys throughout his life were the cause of rumours, questioning whether or not these relationships remained pure and platonic. Thus, a specialized biography focussing on this part of Britten's life was called for, and John Bridcut's book Britten's children addresses all these questions admirably.

W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and Benjamin Britten were contemporaries. They knew each other well, and Auden and Isherwood, just six and nine years older than Britten, respectively, advised him to stay away from boys and, instead, focus on homosexual relationships. Benjamin Britten did form a life-long gay partnership with Peter Pears, but many parts of Britten's children suggest that for Britten his relationships with young boys, with whom he could at times be madly in love, stood over and above his relationship with Pears. There are several suggestions that his relationship with Pears suffered.

Britten's children brings out very clearly that Benjamin Britten was most likely pedophile, and that his interest in children was particularly focussed on boys aged around 13.

Not just Isherwood and Auden were worried about Britten's interest in boys. While they acted as concerned mentors, other close associates of Britten, such as librettist and producer Eric Crozier were worried and said in 1966 that feared Britten would "corrupt" boys. However, apart from a single case where Britten crossed the line, when he fondled the thirteen-year-old boy Harry Morris who spent his holiday with Britten in Cornwall, it seems that Britten was sufficiently restrained to admire "his children" but keep their relations entirely platonic. John Bridcut sought out several of the "young friends" of Benjamin Britten and found that none of them felt harmed in any way by their youthful relations with the composer, although some had experienced some agony at the time, as the relations dissolved.

Britten's children offers a wealth of material about Britten's relationships with young boys, and particularly his relationship with the young German boy Wulff Scherchen, who was Britten's eye apple in 1938 - 39. The chapters devoted to the development of this relation are particularly interesting, as they most clearly establish the relationship and affinities between Auden, Isherwood and Britten, showing similarities in their outlook on life. This was also the period when Auden met and started his life-long relationship with Chester Kallman, while Britten's relation with "Wullfchen" echoes the adventures of Isherwood and Stephen Spender in Germany, shortly before the war.

After the War, back in Europe, Britten's career as a composer really took off, and the biography describes the significance and the role the children played in the creation of his major works. Such descriptions are largely missing from other biographies and descriptions of the works of Britten.

Britten's children is of particular interest to readers interested in the composer, but also, emphatically, readers interested in the early history of the gay lifestyle and the circle around W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.

041. The China diary of George H. W. Bush. The making of a global President
Finished reading: 7 April 2014



Time will tell. Not our contemporaries will decide on the significance of George H. W. Bush as the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). Such a judgement will most likely take at least another 50 years to make, when all the dust of contemporary turbulent times has settled, and historians select and describe our times into the chronicles of history. However, most likely, Jeffrey A. Engel's (Ed.) book will play a part in that process, as The China diary of George H. W. Bush. The making of a global President is a primary text. It consists of the transcribed cassette tapes, recorded by George H. W. Bush in lieu of a diary.

Sino-American relations were frozen in a lock-down since the Communist victory in 1949, with the US unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of Communist rule in China. However, in 1971 Henry Kissinger brokered an opening up and paved the way for President Nixon to visit China in 1972. In 1973, Nixon's successor, President Gerald Ford, established the United States Liaison Office (USLO) in Beijing, to which George H. W. Bush was appointed for 14 months from 1974 till 1976, serving as the Chief of the USLO and American Envoy, not actually, but often acting as Ambassador to China. George H. W. Bush personal style is credited for having made the mission a success, and laid the foundations of future diplomatic relations renewal.

When the Bushes arrived in China, in late 1974, China was still submerged in the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, which still raged although no longer as fiercely as during the first five years. There were very few foreigners in Beijing, and Bush personal style of going out and making contact, going out on his bike and shopping with Barbera won the hearts of some of the Chinese they met and worked with. Jeffrey A. Engel's edition of Bush's diaries also map the extensive contacts Bush built up and maintained within the diplomatic community in Beijing.

At 544 pages, The China diary of George H. W. Bush. The making of a global President is surprisingly readable. There are plenty of daily observations about the life of the Bushes in Beijing during this period, and the style of the diaries is as accessible and interesting as many diaries from numerous other visitors to China during the same period and later on. In fact, The China diary of George H. W. Bush is a lot more readable than some other contemporary diaries because George H. W. Bush does not display any of the anger and prejudice that is often found in other contemporary diarists.

For scholars, Jeffrey A. Engel's edition is a real treasure, as the editor provides footnotes and annotations throughout, mapping all of Bush's contacts he visited and made during his tenure in Beijing. Included in the volume is a 65+-page essay by the editor describing the significance of holding this post to the career development of George H. W. Bush and the development of Sino-American relations.

042. Bankroet van een charmeur
Finished reading: 7 April 2014



The series called the Vlaamse Bibliotheek published bt Houtekiet Publishers was a clear failure. Most works selected and included in th series are minor works by Flemish authors. According to the afterword by Paul de Wispelaere the significance of Bankroet van een charmeur rests in the fact that these early science fiction stories are related to Hugo Raes major novels. They may be of interest to scholars or fellow Flemish authors, but it seems this volume of short stories might just as well have remained under the layer of dust, that must have accumulated on it. A collection of uninteresting stories, which appear only worth mentioning in relation to other work or as influenced by other authors.

043. Komen en gaan
Finished reading: 9 April 2014



Particularly, the Flemish literature of the first half of the 20th Century, was largely strongly influenced by a stiffling climate of religious repression, originating from the widespread terror of Catholicism. In this morally depressing climate, there was little room for free relations, and marriages were often maintained, as divorce was an unspeakable and unthinkable option.

Thus, Komen en gaan is a short novel that illustrates this type of repressive atmosphere. The main character is unhappy with his marriage, and steals glances at other women, but the prevailing depressing atmosphere prevents him from breaking loose from his failed marriage, or developing an extra-marital affair.

A depressing short novel.

Excellent review of Britten's children. There seems to be a sort of paedophile mania in Britain at the moment with the Jimmy Saville controversy and Rolf Harris' recent conviction. In some ways it is good that Benjamin Britten is well out of it.

I usually get the Bushes mixed up, but it was goods to read about Bush snr's work in China.

Right, Barry. In fact, the young George W. Bush, just fresh out of college visited his father in China, staying a month in Beijing in 1975.

Regarding Britten's children, I think the book, published in 2006, was conceived and written just before the tide of anger about paedophilia. In August last year, I read a biography of a Dutch poet who was also deeply entrenched in the love of boys, often teetering more closely on the edge between restraint and temptation. With all the recent scandals in church circles and the controversies and convictions you mentioned, I guess that the 'relative atmosphere of torerance for paedophilia may evaporate, and anger and disgust take the place of mild understanding, which it enjoyed since the mid-1990s.

044. Mattekeesjes of de zielenreiniging van de Nederlandse klamboemaatschappij
Finished reading: 10 April 2014



The first work in the "Collection of Early Works" (Het vroege werk by the Dutch author Jan Wolkers is the very early, ultra short and not well-known play called Mattekeesjes of de zielenreiniging van de Nederlandse klamboemaatschappij. The play is hardly worth mentioning, and somewhat surprisingly very critical attack of Dutch colonialism. It was an interesting read, and given its shortness, quite difficult to imagine to have it staged. As Wolkers would not return to its theme, it must be definitely be considered to belong to the somewhat immature juvenalia. However, interesting to read.



Other books I have read by Jan Wolkers:
Dagboek 1974
Dagboek 1969 - 1971
Ach, Wim, wat is een vrouw?
Dagboek 1972

045. Serpentina's petticoat
Finished reading:



The five short stories, which together form the volume Serpentina's petticoat have all become classics within the oevre of the Dutch author Jan Wolkers. Wolkers published this first short story collection in 1961, at the age of 35. The stories are all set in the last year of the Second World War. Their originality and power shows the talent of Wolkers, who would dominate the literary scene in the Netherlands as one of the great Dutch authors of the 20th Century.



Other books I have read by Jan Wolkers:
Mattekeesjes of de zielenreiniging van de Nederlandse klamboemaatschappij
Dagboek 1974
Dagboek 1969 - 1971
Ach, Wim, wat is een vrouw?
Dagboek 1972

I didn't know about Britten's weakness for boys (I knew he was gay, which may not be the same thing). I don't think there's a "mania" for hunting down paedophiles going on; rather that we are seeing the effect of information coming up, as victims get older, perpetrators die, and there's generally more freedom and willingness to talk about sexual matters.

I feel especially bitter about child sex tourism, which European paedophiles indulged in for centuries (still do) while maintaining not just façades of respectability, but reputations--such as that old bastard Norman Douglas, who took to bed children as young as eight. It didn't matter, you see--as he had no compunction explaining to Paul Fussell (a stomach-churning conversation reported in Abroad)--the little Italians, for instance, were more savages than human anyway. They had no childhoods and innocence to lose, and he could buy them with food.

The point is that "everyone" knew this about Douglas but few cared, as long as he stuck to "savages". I must say I prefer a dose of public "mania" about this behaviour to establishment's cavalier indifference.

About Vonnegut, Edwin, I wonder if his significance to Americans isn't something more than purely literary? He was a "voice", a tribune, jester, satirist, more important (I get the impression) for supplying some vital comment to the historical moment, than as a, uh, littérateur. He produced literature for the sake of politics and engagement, not as a belle-lettrist.

So glad you're back. Barnes, Britten, Bush: each sounds desirable in its own way. What a fascinating time for Bush to have been in the PRC.

Also glad you're back, and with such interesting and varied reading. I enjoyed and learned a lot from your reviews, especially of the Britten and Bush books.

Thanks, Lola. I did not know that much about Douglas. I have a friend who knew Douglas is his late years, but my friend never mentioned that side of him, just the love for Asian young men.

I do think that there is a bit of a mania, as arousal of the masses is never a subtle affair. I think during the late 1980s, paedophilia reached a relatively high level of acceptance, as a phenomenon considered possible related to or in the shadow of homosexuality. Paedophilia has benefited from the emancipation of homosexuality, or rode the tide of its acceptance. However, the majority of the general public as well as most gay people cannot accept paedophilia, neither the homosexual nor heterosexual variants, and probably never will. My point is that the relative acceptance of paedophilia during the past two decades has rlifted some of the taboo, making it possible to discuss the issue. It is obvious that in the case of Britten's children, paedophilia is discussed and described in a positive light, albeit emphatically only in as far as it remained passive and restraint. Possible along with the recent wave of scandals, that shade of acceptence may be flushed out.

Perhaps Vonnegut can only be understood within his time, and reading his work outside the time it was written, outside the US and outside or disconnected from the political climate, his work seems insignificant. The Penguin Modern Classics series is known to have absorbed authors that were somehow emblametic of a period or movement.

Thanks, Sassy and Rebecca,

I have been extremely busy with my work for the past two months. I was able to keep on reading, but not write and post reviews.

Over the past three to four weeks, I have also experienced difficulty accessing LibraryThing. My browser apparently was unable to process queries from the application module ajax.googleapis which roused my fear that I would no longer be able to access LT at all, as China has now comprehensively blocked all of Google in China.

In fact, I had already accepted that as a fact, and said goodbye to LT in my mind.

However, I just recently discovered that I can surf to LT without a problem with IE, and now suppose the problem mainly rests with Mozilla Firefox. Apparently, Firefox isn't doing very well at all.

Since I have created quite a backlog in reading, I will try to catch up, both reading other members' posts and posting reviews to my thread.

Hmm, I recall late eighties/nineties as marked by revelations and controversies surrounding the "retrieved memory" cases that seemed to be popping everywhere, and increasing awareness of the problem of child sexual abuse. Rather the opposite of acceptance--in general public, that is.

But are we talking about the same thing? I think--that others think, at least--that there are grounds for distinguishing between sexual attraction to pre-pubertal children and older kids, in or entering puberty.

Anyway, don't mean to drag out this topic.

Too bad about your Chinese internet problems! That is beyond maddening. What do they think they are solving by censorship?

Looking forward to more reviews.

>121 LolaWalser:

I think we are not exactly referring to the same issue, here. My comments mainly refer to the mellowing atmosphere of the mid- to late 80s, when paedophilia (but not pedosexuality) clearly benefitted from the increasing emancipation and acceptance of homosexuality (then, decreasingly referred to as homophilia). However, the late-80s and early 90s saw an ever swelling wave of cases of child abuse surfacing, and this wave of child abuse has obliterated whatever sympathy was budding for paedophilia.

In the Netherlands, the age of consent is 16. Paedophiles are often interested in kids around the are of 12 / 13 or younger. The tendency was to create acceptance for their situation, and a limited acceptance for display of nudity of minors in non-sexual contexts. There was and has never been acceptance of sympathy for child abuse, intentional or unintentional, an no acceptance of any attempts at sexuality with minors.

As far as I can see, the book Britten's children clearly shows that Britten was balancing a very fine line, apparently successfully. I alo had the feeling that the author, John Bridcut, had the tendency to protect Britten from smut. It is likely that the material could be interpretedly differently.

Censorship in China is just a big headache. Most social media are blocked, and many news sources. Censorship is clearly aimed at preserving certain myths and propagating certain truths. However, I also have the feeling that some of the censorship stems from commercial interests and envy. Last but not least, books & knowledge are, of course, always suspicious, so there are blanketing blocks on archive.org, openlibrary.org, and even, marxists.org

046. Verscheur deze brief! Ik vertel veel te veel. Een briefwisseling
Finished reading: 22 April 2014



The post-war Dutch literary scene was dominated by the so-called "grote drie" "the great three", namely the Dutch authors Harry Mulisch, Gerard Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans. All of these authors have died during the past 10 years, and recent years have seen the publication of complete collected works, biographies and correspondence.

Correspondence was part of the typical oevre of Gerard Reve. Since the late 1960s, he has published several volumes of Brievenboeken, "books of letters". These volumes of correspondence were almost always limited to the letters written by Gerard Reve, while answers from his correspondents were left out. This formed no obstacle to Reve. In fact, suspicion has been raised more than once that all of his letters were written with future publication in mind.

Each of "the Great Three" was a typical product of their time, and probably also quit-essentially Dutch authors. They were shaped by their time of life, and in turn had an active hand in shaping that time, particularly into the 1960s and 70s. They has remarkably little in common, and each had a remarkably unique and distinct personal style. Mulisch was in many ways a megalomanic universe, all by himself. Hermans donned the image of the grumbling perpetual outsider. Reve seemed bent on provocation, at first by converting to devout catholicism, seeking confrontation with the church and being barely acquitted of blasphemy, and subsequently by developing an image of a super devout catholic, but homesexual pervert, publishing sadomasochistic novels and collections of letters.

Verscheur deze brief! Ik vertel veel te veel. Een briefwisseling (Eng." "rip up this letter! I'm telling you far too much") the complete collection of correspondence between Gerard Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans. Its unicity lies in the fact that letters and answers of both authors are printed in one volume.

For readers interested in the early development of these two authors, this book is essential reading. The letters show that in the early years, the two authors and their spouses enjoyed a close and sincere friendship, but over the years a gap opened up, and they became like strangers to each other.

Verscheur deze brief! Ik vertel veel te veel. Een briefwisseling is particularly interesting because it documents Reve's period during the 1950s, when he turned away from writing in Dutch, and instead attempting to become an English author. A large part of the correspondence in this volume is written in English. During that period Reve published a novel and short story collection in English.

The collection documents the rift opening up between the authors, and shows how Reve occasionally keeps sending letters, which are ignored and unanswered by Hermans. Extensive footnotes by the editor document the background to letters and extratextual details, such as notes written by Hermans on letters received from Reve vowing not to answer them.

Verscheur deze brief! Ik vertel veel te veel. Een briefwisseling offers an excellent insight into the early development of these two great authors.

047. The spinning heart
Finished reading: 23 April 2014



The spinning heart is a very depressing book. Bleakness and depression are, apparently, the hallmarks of Irish literature, as are ugliness and abandon.

The opening story is particularly strong, but the following stories, each devoted to a dfferent character, create a sense of disconnectedness. In subsequent chapters, connectedness between characters is indicated or suggested, but the novel lacks an overall structure, leaving it up to the reader to figure out how characters are connected.

A very tiresome read.

048. Liza of Lambeth
Finished reading: 25 April 2014



Liza of Lambeth, Somerset Maugham debut novel is a bit of a pot boiler, however, it is interesting to readers of the author's work as, in essence, in already contains the theme of his opus magnum of human bondage.

This short novel tells the story of Liza in a melodramatic way. Set in a poor part of London, Liza and her friends and relatives belong to the working class, living in poverty and raising large families. Although Liza has a quick flirt with Tom, she is much more attracted to Jim, who seduces her are involves her in an adulturous relationship. The growing jealousie of Jim's wife frightens Liza, but Jim's confidence gives her a false sense of security. However, Jim's wife confronts Liza, shaming her in public. Despite everything, Tom still loves Liza, but Liza feels she is doomed, as she is pregnant with Jim's child. Jim turns on his wife, beating her, which frightens Liza even more, although wife beatings are shown to be a common occurrance in the novel. In the end, Liza dies after a miscarriage.

Liza of Lambeth is a melodramatic portrayal of life in poverty-stricken London at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. In the working class milieu of the novel, the men are mainly portrayed as brutes, while the women are passive and frail, and subjected to their passions. The novel is clearly related to the atmosphere in the plays of George Bernard Shaw and the naturalist novel on the continent, such as Zola.

The novel is deterministic in the sense that it suggests that the women have no choice. Liza is driven to her doom following her passion for Jim, and shame seems to keep her from reaching out to Tom, whose helping hand is streched out no matter what happens. Jim's wife holds on to her husband despite his adulterous behaviour and beating her. The novel seems to suggest that her loyalty to her husband is more than matrimonial duty, and that despite all, she probably still loves him.

Although the novel displays interesting aspects, particularly in relation to later work by the author, the reading of Liza of Lambeth is not immediately rewarding. The pervasive Cockney accent makes the novel a bit difficult to read.



Other books I have read by W. Somerset Maugham:
Of human bondage
The painted veil
Up at the villa
The moon and sixpence
Points of view
The vagrant mood
The narrow corner

049. Wesker. The Playwright
Finished reading: 1 May 2014



It is quite remarkable that before the advent of the wordwide web, students had to rely of "maps with newspaper clippings" compiled by librarians, and monographs on authors to get information on plays, and reviews of those plays. Nowadays, much on that information is available directly from the Internet.

Wesker. The Playwright by Glenda Leeming is a monograph that describes and summarizes all plays by the British playwright Arnold Wesker. One chapter is devoted to non-dramatic work. The descriptions of each play are based on the readings, as well as extensive use of reviews published in the newspapers at the time. There are a few b/w photos to illustrate the plays.

Perhaps it is a bit unfair to award this book such a low rating. I bought and read it as a students for a course in British drama, and a reading of the first trilogy, consisting of The kitchen, Chicken soup with barley and Roots. Reading the book from cover to cover 25 years later, makes for a pretty boring task, especially because the book was probably never meant to be read from cover to cover. However, my rating reflects that type of reading. Possibly to scholars of Wesker or individual plays, the book may still be valuable.

Interesting as always to catch up with your reading -- sorry so much of it was tiresome or worse!

050. Atlantic. A vast ocean of a million stories
Finished reading: 3 May 2014



Themes that tie the work of Simon Winchester together seem to be "geology" "geography" and "history. They are the most frequent tags assigned to the work of the author. Atlantic. A vast ocean of a million stories is similar to some of Winchester's other work in the sense that the work is fragmented, but still forms a unity, tying together geography, geology and history. However, this book seems more voluminous than previous works, quite a whopper at just under 500 pages. The sub-title of the book Great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories (not all editions) describes the book very well, although it seems this title was perhaps suggested by the editor rather than the author. In fact, the book as a whole radiates a sense of fatigue, and the reader may wonder whether the idea for the book came from the author or from the editor. In some markets the book is promoted as Atlantic. The Biography of an Ocean. Besides being dedicated to his wife, the book is also dedicated to Angus Campbell Macintyre, a hero, described in the book.

The introduction of the book starts with a peculiar anthropomorphic approach to "the life cycle" of the ocean, which leads to the illogical conclusion that if it has a life (cycle) it might as well have its biography written. This circular type of illogical reasoning seems another attempt of the author to please the editor who probably made that suggestion. The chapter that describes the "birth" of the ocean, with its predictable echoes of other works by Winchester about the "life" or "birth" of geological phenomena, is the most mechanical and boring.

However, in the other chapter, the author brings together an encyclopaedic wealth of knowledge and details about the Atlantic Ocean as the setting or background to historic events from the earliest archaelogical records to the present. Naturally, there is an enormous wealth of material to choose from, describing the travels of the Phoenicians, Vikingsto the history of the great seafaring nations. There are also chapters devoted to the weather, biology of maritime life and the effects of global warming.

Another peculiar characteristic displayed by the author is the tendency to write himself into the narrative. The book does not exactly follow a historical timeline. Rather, it starts with the earliest travel experiences of the author in the early 1980s near Cadiz, which ties together the narrative from the Isles of Mogador to the Phoenicians and the Greeks and Romans passing out beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Later on in the book, attention turns to what should be a black page in British history, the Falklands War in 1982. Are these personal touches there for the author, or are they supposed to create a sense of personal experience?

Still, Simon Winchester has a magnificent command of his maretial and a wonderful writing style. Given that it would be impossible to describe all of the history that accurred around the sea boards of the Atlantic Ocean, the author brings together a both recognizable and novel, original choice of historical data, with a perfect balance between overall, global developments and a myriad of detail. Both American and European history are involved, particulary from the point of view of trade, shipping, travel and communication by various means, both shipping and air travel.

In sum, Simon Winchester has done it again. Atlantic. A vast ocean of a million stories is a huge, and hugely readable book, offering somethin of interest to virtually every reader, provided they enjoy reading, and can handle a book that it itself encompasses an ocean of reading material.



Other books I have read by Simon Winchester:
Krakatoa. The day the world exploded. August 27, 1883
A crack in the edge of the world. America and the great California earthquake of 1906
The meaning of everything. The story of the Oxford English Dictionary
Outposts
The map that changed the world. A tale of rocks, ruin and redemption
Pacific nightmare. How Japan starts World War III
Korea. A walk through the land of miracles

Enjoyed your latest batch of reviews Edwin; The Simon Winchester book looks interesting, Your edition of Wesker: The playwright looks like it might be an antique.

>129 baswood:

Wesker: The playwright was a bit of a blast from the past. My mother sent it over in one of four boxes of books she posted in May. I had bought it in 1991, when it was remaindered. At the time, I took a course in British Drama, and read some plays by Wesker. The book has my pencil markings in the margins.

I haven't seen or touched this book, which was boxed up in my Mum's attic for at least 15 years. When I received it in Beijing, the bookmark showed I could finish it by reading just another 60 pages or so. I think in 2009, I acquired the second trilogy of plays by Wesker, through Bookmooch, but it is doubtful I will ever get round to reading them.

Simon Winchester's Atlantic sounds very interesting. I once read The Professor and the Madman by Winchester, which was all about the OED. It seems to have been published also under the title The Surgeon of Crowthorne.

I am enjoying reading your reviews even though I don't necessarily have anything to say about each one.

Being unable to access, or read, let alone post on LT is a real mental strain (with books finished reading piling up).

It also means I cannot read and post comments on the threads of others. Sometimes I can read, but not comment. Very frustrating.

I have recently found that accessing LT through other language mirror sites workes better. I often cannot get to the site on typically the moments of the week or day, when I used to post most, such as Friday & Saturday or through-the -week evening.

Perhaps LT has capacity problems.....

>132 edwinbcn: I missed (or maybe you never said . . .) why you can't access LT . . . Sorry for the stress, and missing your reviews.

What Rebecca said.

I don't know, myself. Perhaps LT has capacity problems.

Do you think it's because you're in China? I haven't had any problems here in the US.

I am not entirely sure. It seems a logical conclusion, although I do not have problems with other websites. Only LT is problematic.

051. Untold stories
Finished reading: 4 May 2014



Although not presented as such, Alan Bennett's Untold stories (2005) is very much, and should be seen as a companion volume to Writing home, which appeared in 1994.

Like Writing home, it is a book full of scraps and tid-bits that nobody in their serious mind should attempt to read, let alone buy. Supposedly, most of these 'occasional pieces' were once published or unpublished. Much of it is either very boring or of inimitably little interest. The Diaries, for examples, tell us nothing whatsoever, as with most other pieces.

Writing home consisted of 630+ pages, and Untold stories goes over that, forming a formidable tome of 658 pages, which, obviously, took me an incredibly long time to finish, and, again, I feel I wasted a lot of time reading it.

If may be that Alan Bennett is, or is considered an important author, but that does not seem to justify the publication of these two massive volumes of prose.

However, Untold stories seems a little bit better than the preceding volume. For instance, the first section, which bears the same title as the whole volume, namely Untold stories is a chronicle of the author's mothers illness. For years, as is usually the case in such patients, Bennett's mother suffered from Manic Depression. This is described very compassionately in this memoir, showing the tragedy of such prolonged depression for the mother, the father, and the author, who was a university student, at the time. This memoir also describes very accurately the dynamic between the parents, having a working class, lower educational background, and their son, who is trained at university, but above all the narrative shows how inadequate that university knowledge is in expressing affection and dealing with this situation. The memoir shows, actually, the father to be more apt and understanding and communicating feeling. As a result, the father and the son also grow closer.

Given the fact that in the Western world, Depression takes place on epidemic scale, it is remarkable that this type of memoir seems to be so rare. At 127 page, forming the first part of the book, Untold stories deserves to be read,and should be anthologized in other form.

Written on the body is an interesting personal memoir, but very short.

For the rest of the book, I would advise a hap-snap approach. The diaries (1996 - 2004) are largely very uninteresting, unless one is perhaps particularly interested in Alan Bennett, taking up almost 200 pages. About 100 pages are devoted to essays about plays written by Bennett, more about The lady in the van, that was already so extensively dealt with in Writing home. There are various essays on radio and TV, among others on contemporaries of Bennett such as Thora Hird and Lindsay Anderson, just in case these people would disappear into oblivion, as will probably happen anyway. The remaining essays on art, architecture and authors seemed promising, but are, by and large, rather uninteresting

I would advise anyone to take it from a library and read only those parts which have your particular interest, rather than attempt to swallow the whole book (and choke on it).



Other books I have read by Alan Bennett:
The uncommon reader
Writing home

052. Sheherazade of literatuur als losprijs
Finished reading: 4 May 2014



Raymond Brulez is a Flemish author, whose work is described as surprisingly modern, and therefore, supposedly, still accessible to modern readers. This is a somewhat contentious statement. Despite several reprints which have appeared over the past ten years, Brulez does not seem to appeal strongly to modern readership, and his work is on the brink of being forgotten.

Its modernity was not what first appealed to me in Sheherazade of literatuur als losprijs, originally published in 1933. Rather, its affinity with Brulez' great predecessors in Dutch letters, and the lyrical style of Couperus, particularly in the treatment of classical antiquity in a quasi-modern style of writing caught my attention. However, Brulez does not master or maintain that elevated style, and most of the stories in this short story collection are written in, as praised by others, a much more modern style.

The collection of short stories is preceded by an essay on "literature as temptation".

053. The painted word
Finished reading: 5 May 2014



A love of modern art is often described as an "acquired taste" while anyone who professes doubt about the (aesthetic) value of modern art is frowned upon, smilingly or pityingly tut-tutted as being "not-in-the-know". The painted word by Tom Wolfe debunks that notion.

First of all, The painted word does and does not attack all modern art. It does not explicitly condemn all art, simply because the scope of the booklet (120 pages) is too limited. However, the introductory chapter is very critical, even about the beginnings of modern art, and thus, by implication of all modern art.

In the first and second chapters, the author traces the history of the elitism that created the in-crowd feeling that dominates the modern art world, tracing back to its origins in the 1920. Painters of American modern art in the 1950s - 60s are most fiercely attacked, such as Greenblatt, Rauschenberg, Pollock, Warhol etc.

There is not much to learn from The painted word, foremostly because the author is frightfully biased against the modern art scene. Nonetheless, the small book is still very readable and its irony may make readers chuckle.

As long as modern art is still venerated, The painted word will remain a refreshing note of disharmony, a reminder that madness is (also) in the eye of the beholder.



Other books I have read by Tom Wolfe:
Hooking up
Ambush at Fort Bragg
The bonfire of the vanities

054. The gentleman in the parlour
Finished reading: 6 May 2014



Many of Somerset Maugham novels and short stories were written against the backdrop of the Far East, often in very sensuous descriptions. After the First World War, Maugham travelled extensively in India, Southeast asia, the Pacific, China and Hong Kong. His travels in the Pacific found their way into The moon and sixpence, and more extensively in the beautiful, but less well-known novel The narrow corner, which is set in the region of the South China Sea, between China and Malaysia, the landscape of Joseph Conrad, so to speak. Impressions of his travels in China and Hong Kong were captured in On a Chinese screen, published in 1922, which later formed the basis for The Casuarina tree. In the same year, 1922, Maugham travelled throuh Burma and Thailand.

However, although Maugham had kept a journal of his trip through Burma and Thailand, no books appeared based on or inspired by this journey. Maugham was at the height of his career, and settled in the south of France. The gentleman in the parlour was not written until seven years later, and published in 1930. It is often described as Maugham's best sample of travel writing, his other works of travelling literature being limited to the collection of vignettes in On a Chinese screem and Don Fernando, which records his travels through Spain. It seems an exaggeration to describe or consider Somerset Maugham as a travel writer of the same stature as Graham Greene. It is true Maugham travelled a lot, but he produced very little travel writing. Both in scope, volume and treatment, Maugham's travel writing takes up a marginal position.

While Graham Greene's travel writing, at times seems uninspired, as, for instance in The lawless roads, which was a commissioned travelogue of a journey through Mexico (one can hear Greene's grumbling discontent throughout), Maugham has taken a lighter approach to his travel writings. Thus, The gentleman in the parlour is almost in equal measure a mixture of fact and fiction.

As a writer of world class stature, it is obvious that Maugham's publishers would accept any type of work from the master's hand. The gentleman in the parlour is a travelogue, but the narrative of the journey is interspersed with prose fragments, which were written or even published earlier. Characters and experiences have been fictionalized, as noted by Paul Theroux in the introduction to the edition in Vintage Books. Nonetheless, the books forms a unity of travel writing.

Maugham writes very well, and the largest part of the trip being in Burma, The gentleman in the parlour abounds in descriptions of the people, the Shans, and their culture, and the landscape in that country. Burma was a British colony at that time, so Maugham's writing may have been considered of educational value at the time. Fact, fiction and Maugham's ruminations, often mindfully glancing back at the old country over his shoulder, lent The gentleman in the parlour as much the air of an essay, and a travelogue.

Theroux notes that in The gentleman in the parlour Maugham is extremely discrete, and that his gay travel companion was actually completely left out of the narrative. This observation seems to completely miss the point that The gentleman in the parlour must be read as an idealized colonial fairy-tale, not a real-life memoir of the emancipated gay author that Maugham was (not).



Other books I have read by W. Somerset Maugham:
Of human bondage
The painted veil
Up at the villa
The moon and sixpence
Points of view
The vagrant mood
The narrow corner

Excellent review of the gentleman in the Parlour with some good background information

>123 edwinbcn: Somehow I missed your earlier discussion of "the great three" Dutch writers, which I found very interesting. Harry Mulisch is the only one I have heard of. I have his The Discovery of Heaven, which I started once but got sidetracked before I could give it a real chance. I'll get back to it eventually.

Also have enjoyed your various discussions of Somerset Maugham. I have read most of his short stories of which I have a big fat collection, but for some reason have never read any of the novels. His way of telling a story is simple yet it draws one in completely.

ETA — I should have said "deceptively" simple.

Thanks, Barry and Suzanne. I haven't come round to reading The Discovery of Heaven, either.

055. The Yage letters. Redux
Finished reading: 7 May 2014



Some of the prose of William S. Burroughs defies classification, which is one of the strongest suggestions of its author's inventiveness and originality. For example, Exterminator! has long been regarded as a short story collection, as that is what it looks like, but is now considered to be an experimental novel. The Yage letters, both in its form, and the suggestive title, led critics believe that it consists of correspondence, although that view is hard to reconcile for the work as a whole. The first part of The Yage letters, i.e. "In search of yage (1953)" looks like an (edited) collection of letters, but the subsequent parts consist of prose fragments and poetry. These other fragments were not included in all previous editions, leading to the discussion as to whether they are or are not part of the work as a whole. Doubt has also been cast on the true nature of these parts, as some of it looks like poetry, but possibly should not be considered as such. There are also critics, who have suggested that The Yage letters is, in fact, a novel.

In The Yage Letters Burroughs records his travels visiting the Amazon rainforest and his search for yagé (ayahuasca), a plant which produces a drug with near-mythical hallucinogenic and some say telepathic qualities. The book also explores the way the Indians consumed and used this powerful drug. Along the way, Burroughs and Alan Ginsberg relate other stories, ideas and concepts, some of which Burroughs would later use in other novels.

The Yage letters. Redux, with the added subtitle "Redux" refers toy the new edition (2006), edited by Oliver Harris. It is a very well-documented edition, preceded by a long introduction by the editor. In this essay, Oliver Harris proposes that The Yage letters be seen as a travelogue. His conclusion is based on textual analysis and history of the manuscripts and writing process, which shows that, although some of the letters by Alan Ginsberg are authentic, much of the correspondence written by Burroughs is not, that is to say, they are written as letters, but were originally conceived of as prose, and were never sent. Out of 9,500 words in the manuscript only 320 came from authentic letters (p. xxxii). The Yage letters was in its origins not written in epistolary form.

Furthermore, the editor points out that Burroughs interest in Yage was not only driven by his obsession with drugs. As a graduate student at Harvard, Burroughs trained and an anthropologist, while he also, eclectically, studied Medicine during his time spent in Vienna. Burroughs also sought funding to investigate and describe the source and culture of the usage of Yage.

Particularly the first part of The Yage letters is very readable, and of considerable interest. It consists of travel writing into South American involving both anthropological and botanical descriptions. The travelogue shows William S. Burroughs as an excellent prose stylist. It has characteristics of an adventure story, and is profoundly personal. To some readers, a number of expletives may be disturbing, but such use of language was to be expected in Burroughs work, anyway. Surprisingly, the travelogue also mixes in some sensuous descriptions involving Burroughs interest in young men.

The long introduction by the editor of The Yage letters. Redux, Oliver Harris, is a jewel. It does not only introduce and describe the history of the work, but also provides an excellent description, updated for the latest literary criticism, of the circle of the Beat Generation, and the co-operation between William S. Burroughs and Alan Ginsberg on this work.

The Yage letters. Redux is by far the most readable and most beautiful text that I have read by Burroughs.



Other books I have read by William S. Burroughs:
Exterminator!
And the hippos were boiled in their tanks
Junky. The definitive text of 'Junk'
The wild boys. A book of the dead
The Western lands

056. A writer's people. Ways of looking and feeling
Finished reading: 8 May 2014



A writer's people. Ways of looking and feeling is a singularly unfocused and self-indulgent collection of essays. It seems that winning the Nobel Prize for Literature enabled V.S.Naipaul to shed the last shred of modesty and elevate his writing to the level of l'art pour l'art in which only the writer counts, and the reader is reduced to an optional accessory.

It is quite likely that winning the Nobel Prize in some sense devastated Naipaul. Since winning the prize in 2001, he has not produced any major works, with only Magic Seeds appearing in 2004 and this collection of essays A writer's people. Ways of looking and feeling in 2007. fans of Naipaul had to wait till 2010 for his next book, The Masque of Africa.

The essays are very well-written, and, going by their titles could have been very interesting. "Worm in the bud" outlines Naipaul's growth and genesis as a writer, but his self-centredness makes his appear the central axis of the universe. While one might argue that within his world, that is the world of his creation, the author is, in fact, the central creating force, real-life references to his father and contemporaries make this first essay seem overly self-centred.

The second essay, "An English way of looking" consists of an uncalled for cowardly back stabbing beyond the grave of Anthony Powell, whom Naipaul elsewhere called his friend. The author describes how soon after coming to England as a beginning author, he met Anthony Powell, and it is clear that to some extent, this friendship benefitted Mr Naipaul. It is all the more strange that he goes on to describe his disappointment in Powell. Whatever the merits or demerits of Powell's work, Naipaul's condemnation of that work as a pinnacle of mediocrity is futher proof of the bad taste of this essay collection.

Naipaul has written extensively on India, but the third essay, "Looking and not seeing: the Indian way" adds nothing to it. It is a longish, boring essay, mainly on Indian history, which reads like an occasional piece pulled of the shelf to act as a filler, as with the fifth essay "India again: the mahatma and after". It is therefore puzzling why the two essays about India are separated by the essays called "Disparate ways", which mainly deals with the work of Gustave Falubert.

Some of the essays feel as if they have been "prepared" for this collection. this is noticeable by a sudden swing in the focus of the essay, as if a number of introductory paragraphs or pages was added. The result is a sense of disorientation, as the main focus of some of the essays is different from what the first two pages lead in to.

Readable, but unfair.



Other books I have read by V.S.Naipaul:
The masque of Africa. Glimpses of African belief
Literary occasions
A flag on the island
The night watchman's occurrence book. And other comic inventions
Mr Stone and the Knights Companion
The suffrage of Elvira
India. A wounded civilization
The loss of El Dorado. A colonial history
The Middle Passage. Impressions of five colonial societies
Half a life

Oh dear I had to google Yage to find out what it was. Anybody else want to admit to that.

But I could have looked at the Literary Centennials thread.

Edwin you are becoming a bit of an expert on both Burroughs and V S Naipaul. Great reviews as always and I am glad you found the Burroughs so beautiful. (not a word one associates with Burroughs)

Thanks, Barry. I added one paragraph to my review to shed some light on the content of the book and explain what yage is. I agree that was an omission.

I was no fan of Burroughs, still am not really, but he has caught my interest. All I had ever read was The Western lands, read way back in 1991, and did not like it. Short supply of books in China made me pound on and buy all editions of the Penguin Modern Classics series as they became on offer in the bookstores, including volumes by authors completely new to me. Books and authors included in the series must have some considerable interest, trusting the publisher's choice. I first read The wild boys, which I won't say I loved, but it was interesting. In fact, much of Burroughs experimenting is quite interesting, though not all that successful.

Junky. The definitive text of 'Junk' was in fact much more conventional than I had expected, and likewise for And the hippos were boiled in their tanks, which showed Burroughs, at least at the time, a much better writer than Kerouac.

I was never interested in the Beat Generation, but my big Penguin Modern Classics purchase also contained almost all novels of Kerouac and the complete poetry of Alan Ginsberg. I do not like all of it, but they are an interesting phenomenon. I detest their use of drugs, but am interested in their gay and oriental-influenced lifestyle.

Besides, the new Pengiun Modern Classics editions provide, sometimes, very good introduction and excellent literary criticism, which helps seeing the works in the broader context.

I like reading up on authors, their context, and rather read many books of one author than, let's say work my way through the 1001 list, where one would only read 1 work of an author, in most cases. The list is no problem if you are a voracious reader, as for instance you and Steven are.

Haven't you become a bit of an expert on H.G. Wells or Albert Camus?

I am sorry I am a bit behind with the Literary Centennials, and the reviewing of my own books (huge backlog) because I have been so busy with work since June. Will catch up on both, though.

057. Inventing the Enemy. Essays
Finished reading: 9 May 2014



The Italian Master has composed a new Capriccio Italien. Inventing the Enemy. Essays by Umberto Eco is a refreshing and sparkling collection of essays, ranging over a very broad field.

Umberto Eco is a very productive author, particularly as regards non-fiction, although he is perhaps most famous for his novellistic work. His novels also rely heavily on deep intellectual and historical background research, as for instance The Prague Cemetery. The essays in Inventing the Enemy. Essays were all written over the past ten years, and should be considered as "occasional writings". Many of them are pieces written in the margin of, or perhaps preserving aspects of other works that were written over the same period. It is quite obvious that some of the essay are closely related to some of the books that Eco published in recent years, such as History of Beauty "On Beauty" (2004), and its companion volume, On Ugliness (2007) Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism (2007), and The Infinity of Lists (2009) (the publication dates are for the English translated editions). Some of the essays in this volume were presented as lectures.

The essays span many eras, from phenomena and ideas in the Middle Ages, to "Thoughts on Wikileaks", which is a much more interesting piece than one would at first glance expect, raising the question "how (...) a Power (can) hold out in the future, when it can no longer keep its own secrets?" It is a pity this essay was written before the Snowden revelations, and time will tell whether Eco has more to say about it, since.

"Inventing the Enemy" is an interesting and accessible essay into the deeply grounded feeling that "hideousness'' produces aversion, and thus, perceived or exaggerated ugliness lies at the basis of forming an image of an enemy. A much more philosophical debate is formed by the second essay, on "Absolute and Relative", which I had hoped, but did not completely answer some of my own ruminations on the "Universal and Relative". In my opinions, Eco preliminary conclusion that "the relative" or at least relativism "has become derogatory" (p.22) is a bit premature, although it is possible, and likely that the author here refers to the way these words are used in the Italian language. This is a point of criticism that I must make, namely that the English edition has come out very soon after the Italian edition, and that it seems, intentionally or unintentionally omitting to focus on or explain that many of Eco's concerns are very closely related to semiotics, language and culture of Italy in particular. Thus, it will be very hard to English readers to grasp exactly what is meant by "Berlusconi's use of the word communism" (Ibid.).

Likewise, the essay "Living by Proverbs" does not work in translation. It is obvious, that it must be brilliant in Italian, but in translation it copletely falls flat.

In July 2008, on the occasion of the 2008 Milanesiana Festival of Literature, Eco was asked to present a lecture on the theme of the four elements --fire, air, earth, and water. The result is the lecture, "The Beauty of the Flame", reducing the scope to observations only on "fire", describing fire as a divine element, including "hellfire", alchemical fire, fire as the origin of art, fire as an epiphanic experience, regenerating fire and fire as a destroyer in the section ekpyrosis today. The essay brings together a wide range of sources and ideas about fire in Western culture, as well as a translation of a fragment from the Buddha's "Fire Sermon".

The essay "Treasure Hunting" is about the hunt for relics, and readers need a strong stomach to take in the essay on "Fermented Delights" when it discusses how putrefaction contributes to the attraction of cheese and subsequent description following The Anatomy of the Senses (1995). This essay also contains the fabulous sentence, reading that "remote centuries were peopled by bands of vagrants, and (...) fake monks, charlatans, rogues, swindlers, beggars and ragamuffins, lepers and cripples, peddlers, tramps, ballad singers, itinerant clerics, scholar gypsies, cardsharps, jugglers, maimed soldiers, wandering Jews, madmen, fugitives, convicts with docked ears, or sodomites.

While literature is quoted in many of the essays, there are a few essays which particularly deal with literature, particularly French literature, such as the long essay on Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. The essays "Imaginary Astronomies" discusses several, now obsolete theories, about the shape of the universe and composition of the world, many of which have found their way into various science-fiction novels, written over the past 200 years.

Inventing the Enemy. Essays is a wonderful collection of essays that will form an intellectual diversion to many readers. As mentioned above, some aspects of the essays are not completely successful in the English translation, and particularly the essay "Living by Proverbs" might as well have been left out. Some parts of the text were a bit confusing suggested poor translation (p. 70 ff.) and in some cases the translator or editor could have been a bit more helpful. For instance, on page 109, it will be clear to all Italian readers, but not to readers of the translation that I promessi spossi is written by Manzoni and either the author name, and or English translation of the title should have been included in the text. On page 101 The Man who laughs appears without italicization, but it does appear in italics on page 110, which could be confusing, as to what it refers to. Furthermore, it is not clear why for The Man who laughs the English title is used, while Les miserables is referred to using the French title. But these are minor omissions, and on the whole, Inventing the Enemy. Essays is a wonderful and inspiring collection of essays.



Other books I have read by Umberto Eco:
The Prague cemetery
Foucault's pendulum
Travels in hyperreality
Five moral pieces

Inventing the Enemy sounds to be right up my street. Excellent review! This one goes onto the wish list.

058. Familiezaken
Finished reading: 11 May 2014



Dutch literature encompasses a genre known as the streekroman, which does not have its equivalent in English literature. It could be considered a cross between a family saga and a localized mostly rural novel. Generally, novels in this genre are not considered to belong to literary fiction. It seems that Nico Dros attempts to bridge that gap in his novels and short stories.

The short stories are, partially, focused on life in the Dutch countryside, particularly rural areas in North-Holland, which is one of the country's provinces, or more precisely, the life of farmer's families on the isle of Texel. The choice for this environment means that the stories are set in a micro-cosmos which may even be alien to the majority of Dutch readers. In this sense the prose of Nico Dros is closer to Flemish literature, which is often very focussed on particular localities, than to contemporary Dutch literature, which is often set in the cultural sphere of life in theurban centres. ("Dutch" here refers to literature written by authors from the Netherlands.) Beside the shift in locality, Dros also often uses archaic language. His stories and novels therefore seem "out of phase" with contemporary Dutch literature.

Falimiezaken contains four short stories, each relatively long, at about 50 pages. The stories are technically well-written, but are not very inspiring. Another problem is that the stories do not seem unified, neither within the story not between them. Story elements seem far-fetched and artificial, as do unusual names. The first story is about a summer holiday, spent in Italy. A summer love grows out of a sense of idealism, which creates the atmosphere of a fairy-tale in which nothing is real: all is over in the blink of an eye. "Familiezaken" is the shortest story in the collection. It has a confusing structure with reminiscences looking back at the lives of different people and different periods of time during the Twentieth Century. In addition, the language of the narrator seems to clash with the social class of the characters. The third story seems to illustrate another disillusionment. This story is set in the city. Again, the story consists of a puzzling mix between reality and the imagination, which is explored in various story elements. The fourth, and last, story is another short story that takes on the scope of a family saga by addressing the history of the grand-father, the father and the son's confused ruminations on the elders' actions. The story explores the 'wrong' done by the Dutch in the former colony Indonesia, the colonial war crimes, which are covered up in the euphemistic "policing actions" of Dutch historical discourse. this story, like the first, is set in Italy, suggesting the distance between the narrator and main protagonist, both in the physical, temporal and moral sense. However, his thoughts keeps turning back to his origins, parents and grand-parents, the island of Texel, and the social class of farmer / peasants -- a divide that the narrator cannot bridge.

059. Three brothers
Finished reading: 13 May 2014



Three brothers is a novel with a deceptively simple story. While perhaps a tat bland, that simple story could be taken to be the whole story, at a superficial level. Without digging at deeper levels, the story of Three brothers makes for a complete novel, about growing up in London during the second half of the Twentieth Century.

The novel tells the story of three brothers who are, as unlikely as it may seem, each born on the 6th of May, in three successuve years, Harry Hanway, May 6, 1947, the middle brother Daniel, May 6, 1948, and the youngest brother, Sam, on May 6, 1949. These dates can be construed by the fact that Harry remembered the approximate day their mother disappeared when he was 10 years old, which must have been in October 1957 (page 18). While few other dates are given, temporal references are provided at which age each of the three boys reach landmark events in their lives. Their father, Philippe Hanway is a failed writer turned nightwatch, and their family is broken up, as it has been deserted by their mother. The disappearance of the mother, Sally, remains a mystery throughout the book, although the youngest brother finds her, and occasionally sees her.

The oldest brother becomes a successful journalist, and basically succeeds where his father failed. Daniel, is intellectually talented and wins a scholarship to university in Cambridge, incidentally, the same college of which Peter Ackroyd is an alumnus. The youngest brother, Sam, is adrifter. He apparently has visions or transcendental experiences. Sam is gay, and has an on-off relation with Sparkle or Sparkler, a curious character who is portrayed as a rent boy and a thief.

The book is structured in alternating chapters in sequence of the age of the three brothers, Harry, Daniel and Sam, telling the story of the brothers growing up and their lives in London. The novel provides an incredible amount of detail in the names of people, businesses and localities, suggesting that the novel can be read at a deeper level.

One of the most eye-catching details is that Harry is engaged as a journalist by The Morning Chronicle. A quick check shows that no such newspaper existed in London during the 1960s, but The Morning Chronicle was a newspaper that was published in London between 1769 and 1865. It is known to have been the first steady employer of Charles Dickens in the capacity as a journalist. Before that, Harry took up a position as a messenger boy at The Camden Bugle. This periodical still exists: it is published by the Camden Mental Health Consortium, a charity aiming to improve the quality of life of mental health patients and former patients in the London Borough of Camden.

The clue leading to The Morning Chronicle is sufficiently obscure to suggest that 1950s - 1970s London is, to contemporary readers already as obscure as the Victorian London of Charles Dickens. The novel Three brothers is apparently decked out in a myriad of fine details that wait to be explored. It is likely that these details provide several layers of meaning to the novel, as characters can be identified with historical characters and people, and locations can provide depth and dimensions to characters that cannot be gleaned from superficial reading.

However, the question will be, who is sufficiently interested to do so? Certainly not the casual reader. Probably, Three brothers will be a tough task for several PhD candidates to unravel. The Internet seems un indispensable tool for that purpose, but it is likely that very obscure or distorted and fictionalized facts cannot be found with such a crude tool. Professional readers will have to devote themselves to delving into the life of the author, who is known to have a life-long obsession with London, Ackroyd being the author of London: The Biography. It could be argued that in Three brothers the city of London assumes the role of the central character.

Fortunately, reading the novel at the apparently superficial level is also a rewarding reading experience.



Other books I have read by Peter Ackroyd:
The Great Fire of London
The Plato papers
The fall of Troy

I wonder if I might like Three Brothers because I grew up in London in the 1950's and 1960's. I might understand some of the references. The only thing that puts me off is Peter Ackroyd, because I always feel I am missing something when I read him, perhaps he is too clever for me.

Interesting to read your piece about Dutch literature.

060. Seize the day
Finished reading: 14 May 2014



Seize the day is a difficult book to read, and at first hard to grasp. The main character of the novel, Tommy Wilhelm is an anti-hero. Perhaps this is why the novel is so hard to tackle, as it offers the reader very little to sympathize with its main character. In fact, by the end of the novel, which plays out over the course of a day, the reader thoroughly despises T和main character, unable to feel any compassion or pity for him.

Tommy Wilhelm, whose real name is Wilhem Adler, is a failure. A career in the theatre exists only in him own mind, as he keeps telling himself his career to stardom is just waiting to take off. It is obvious, that his father, Dr. Adler, who appears as a towering and solid rock beside whimpish Tommy, believes his son is beyond help, pitying him in his judgement and inability to take his good council. Although they broke up four years earlier, Tommy's wife must be regarded as truly loyal and devoted in her relentless belief that Tommy can still be and should be the breadwinner of their family. She more or less treats him as a spoilt child, who does not want to take responsibility. As his childish name, Tommy, suggests, Wilhelm's faulty judgement is not only in ignoring his well-wishers, but also following wrong advise. Not only his judgement is impaired, he is not even sure to recognize people for who they are, least of all himself.

I had to read Seize the day three times to make any sense of it, and reading it backwards was the most helpful, as obviously, the culmination and the most telling scenes, for instance, the long telephone call with his wife, occur towards the end of the novel.

Seize the day was written in in the 1950s, but makes more sense being set in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Besides his inability to see himself in the right light, he also hangs on to a lifestyle which clearly isn't his. He lives in the same hotel as his father, in an area where many retired and old people live. Wilhelm fails to capture the spirit of the new epoch. As the American Dream started to take shape, the work ethos of Americans changed to exult "hard work" as the key to success for everyone. Tommy spent seven years in Hollywood to be ready for his career in the theatre. He still hold on to hope, speculation and expectation, much to the irritation of the people around him. However, deep inside he does seem to know what is expected of him, as he looks into the distorting and shadowy mirror and wonders: "He had put forth plent of effort, but that was not the same as working hard, was it?" (p.5).



Other books I have read by Saul Bellow:
The Dean's December

061. Adventures in Japan. A literary journey in the footsteps of a Victorian lady
Finished reading: 14 May 2014



Travelling in the footsteps of a celebrated historical person is not a futile exercise. Isabella Bird was a Victorian explorer, who travelled widely through the United States, notably the Rocky Mountains and Hawaii, the Far east, visiting, China (twice), Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, and later, South Asia, travelling to India, Iran, Kurdistan and Turkey. She also visited Australia and Morocco. In 1878, she travelled through Japan, described in her book Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, published in 1880).

Somewhat forgotten, interest in Isabella Bird started picking up since the 1980s, and in 1998, the American travel writer Evelyn Kaye decided to travel to Japan following in the foorsteps of Isabella Bird to see what remains of the sights the Victorian traveller observed. Following Bird's detailed descriptions, Kaye was able to plan an itinerary taking her fairly precisely along the route followed by Isabella Bird more than 100 years earlier.

Japan was neither much visited by foreigners then, as it attracts but small numbers of foreign travellers now, most of whom follow a quite different trail from Isabella's path. Adventures in Japan. A literary journey in the footsteps of a Victorian lady, therefore, reads like a modern update on Bird's journey. Much to the author's surprise, the Japanese have preserved the legacy of Isabella Bird's visit to Japan much better than the way it is remembered in the West. In various places, Kaye stumbled upon memorials commemorating Isabella Bird's visit to Japan.

Adventures in Japan. A literary journey in the footsteps of a Victorian lady is written in a very personal style, forefronting the author's personal enjoyment and journey of discovery, while documenting the legacy of Isabella Bird. The book is published with a preface by Jan Morris.

Interesting what you write about Dutch & Flemish literature ( In this sense the prose of Nico Dros is closer to Flemish literature, which is often very focussed on particular localities, than to contemporary Dutch literature, which is often set in the cultural sphere of life in the urban centres. ). This was certainly true about Flemish literature in the past, with writers like Stijn Streuvels, Cyriel Buysse and even Hugo Claus, but I wonder if contemporary Flemish writers like Stefan Brijs, Dimitri Verhulst or Tom Lanoye are still struggling in the mud. Or were you referring to something else?

Excellent and enticing review about Ackroyd's book; I had to chuckle and agree with Baswood when he writes: "I always feel I am missing something when I read him, perhaps he is too clever for me". But Seize the Day seems even more hermetic.

Thanks for the review of the Evelyn Kaye book. Being a Japanophile and having read Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, I'm very interested in the book. Just ordered a copy.

>152 edwinbcn: Three Brothers is suddenly interesting to me — if for no other reason than that May 6 was my father's birthday! And your review does make it sound intriguing.

062. Changing my mind. Occasional essays
Finished reading: 17 May 2014



Changing my mind. Occasional essays demonstrates that essay writing is not for everyone. Firstly, Zadie Smith seems to struggle to find the right form, an for lack of a format falls back on her university years, or so it seems. Some of the essays, particularly those about literature read like university term papers. For instance, the essays on Kafka, Barthes and Nabokov, Middlemarch and "Two Directions for the Novel" are longish and larded with long quotations, which are set apart. The essay on Barthes and Nabokov is 15 pages long with no less than 18 longish footnotes, and the essay on Kafka packs 16 footnotes in just 12 pages. The numerous long quotations and footnotes make for very uncomfortable and scholarly reading.

The essays in Changing my mind. Occasional essays are grouped in five section, viz. "Reading", "Being", "Seeing", "Feeling" and "Remembering". This division and the titles of the sections is reminiscent of the essay collections by Susan Sontag, compare for instance with Where the stress falls, which is divided into three sections "Reading", "Seeing" and "There and Here". Is this a tribute to Susan Sontag?

However, it is obvious that the essays of Zadie Smith cannot compare even a little with the essays of Susan Sontag. The essays by Zadie Smith uttely lack originality. They were not written out of curiosity of the author, or the author's initiative to explore and attempt to capture a vision. They were not even, as Somerset Maugham migh call it, literary diversions, written to please the author. Most of the essays in this collection were written at request, or as the author puts it in the "Foreword" (..) requests that came in now and then. Two thousand words about Christmas? About Katherine Hepburn? Kafka? Liberia? A hundred thousand words piled up that way.

Where is the passion? Where is the sense of novelty and pleasure of writing as an adventure? It is not there. Changing my mind. Occasional essays is the result of Zadie Smith plodding from deadline to deadline.

Zadie Smith is a very successful author at a still very young age. Apparently, a number of these essays must have been written very early on in her career, or as she writes in the "Foreword" when you are first published at a young age, your writing grows with you. (...) Changing my mind seemed an apt, confessional title to describe this process. (p. xiii). In essence, the collection of essays in Changing my mind. Occasional essays are early attempts by an author who has not yet found a form.



Other books I have read by Zadie Smith:
The autographman

Great stuff on the art of essay writing Edwin.

064. Here is New York. Essays, Vol. 1
063. Once more to the lake. Essays, Vol. 2
Finished reading: 25 May 2014



Essays of E.B. White is a collection of 31 essays by E.B. White, written over a life-time. The earliest essays date from 1939, while the most recent was written in 1975. Most essays were written during the 1950s. This Chinese bilingual edition is published in two hardcover volumes: Here is New York. Essays, Vol. 1 and Once more to the lake. Essays, Vol. 2. The content of the two volumes is identical to that of the single-volume edition of Essays of E.B. White.

The essays in this collection are beautifully written, and transport the reader to a world which no longer exists, but is often still longed for by the older generation, as well as a younger generation that is weary of the world of unsustainable economic growth. In fact, it was during E.B. White's life time that that lifestyle started to disappear. The essays, particularly those grouped together under the title "The Farm",as there are "Home-coming", "Death of a Pig", "Coon Tree" and "The Geese" look back towards a lifestyle of living on the land, which could still be found aplenty in the 1950s, although it was already on the wane. More essays that evoke a feeling of nostalgia are those grouped under the title "Memories", including essays such as "Afternoon of an American Boy", "The Years of Wonder" and "Once More to the Lake". They describe White's memories of closeness to nature experienced during the 1940s and 1950s.

Throughout the collection there is concern for the disappearance of the lifestyle of living on the land. E.B. White seems to have been strongly aware of the threats to that lifestyle. White includes an endearing portrait of the city of New York in "Here is New York" but it is grouped together with the essay "The World of Tomorrow", the oldest essay in the collection, from 1939, under the title "The City". The overall impression must lead to the conclusion that for all its apparent greatness, E.B. White resents life in the city, which alienates people from each other.

A number of essays show the author to fear the ultimate destruction, not just of the traditional lifestyle, but of the entire planet. Fear of nuclear war permeates "Sootfall and Fallout" written in 1956, "Unity" about disarmament, written in 1960, and "Letter from the East" written in 1975, grouped under the title of "The Planet".

There are also essays about literature, and about White collaboration with William Strunk Jr. on a new edition of The Elements of Style.

The style of the essays is dated. Spanning 40 years, and mainly written during the 1950s, the essays are written in a style that precedes their conception, as if they do not just refer to the lifestyle of the past, but also to a writing style of that past era. The tone of almost all essays is nostalgia and melancholy. They bear out a happiness experiences in the past and worry when looking at the future.

E.B. White is aminly known as an author of children's books and other light-hearted works, such as poetry and humour together with James Thurber. It is perhaps fitting that he collected his more sombre and personal ideas in his essays.

A likely contender for a classic originating from the 1950s.

065. The lawless roads
Finished reading: 1 June 2014



Mexico is remarkably similar to the People's Republic of China in the sense that the country, i.e. Mexico, has been ruled by a single, socialist revolutionary party since 1929. That revolutionary party, which was originally Communist, and a member of the Socialist International, is now considered a centrist party with a neo-liberal ideology, another similarity it shares with the CPC. This revolutionary party came to power following the Mexcican Revolution, which, in effect, consisted of a civil war, which lasted for 19 years, from 1910 - 1929. Particularly, the final three years of that period were characterized by fierce suppression of Catholicism in Mexico. The new constitution of 1917 already effectively banned many features and expressions of the Catholic faith from public view, but the repression was intensified when in 1926 the Calles Laws came into effect. This led to, initially peaceful, and later armed resistance from Catholic rebels, who murdered the president-elect, and fought as "crusade", the Cristiada against these laws between 1926 and 1929.

In The lawless roads, Graham Greene chronicles the aftermath of these historical events which are almost completely forgotten. In 1938, Greene was commissioned to travel through Mexico to record and describe the situation in which the country and the catholic faith found itself after the forced anti-Catholic secularisation. It is widely assumed that the commission came from the Vatican, while Longman Publishers are mentioned as instigator for the book. Recent scholarship suggests that Graham Greene actually spent three months in exile in Mexico for much more profane reasons, fleeing possible prosecution in the United States in what is becoming known as the "Shirley Temple scandal."

In 1938, Graham Greene was 32 years old. He was already a well-known, published author, with seven novels to his name. Still a fairly young man, keen on adventure, but also a certain degree of comfort, The lawless roads is a travelogue of Greene's trip through war-torn Mexico. It is clear that Greene did not enjoy his journey, and towards the end of it, he increasingly complains of boredom, discomfort and general malaise, both his own suffering and that of the country he is travelling through.

The book is a rather straightforward report of the towns they travelled through and the people met or encountered on the roads. There are numerous references to Mexican politics, which are now but vague to construe, and would require quite some background knowledge to decipher.

The lawless roads is a rather boring book, reflecting Graham Greene's boredom and disinterest in his commission. Suggested readership would be limited to aficionados of Graham Greene or Catholics with the obscure interest in the role of militant resistance during the Mexican Revolution, or some similar obscure interest in Mexico or Chiapas.



Other books I have read by Graham Greene:
The comedians
Travels with my aunt
Ways of escape
Dr. Fischer of Geneva or the bomb party
The Ministry of Fear. An entertainment
May we borrow your husband? and Other comedies of the sexual life
The quiet American
The end of the affair
A sort of life
A sense of reality
The tenth man
The honorary consul

>159 edwinbcn: I have only read one book by Zadie Smith, On Beauty, and I was not impressed. I've always felt I should try something else by her, but it won't be her essays!

>161 edwinbcn: I've always enjoyed White's stand-alone essay, Here Is New York, as a look at a long-gone but still in some ways the same New York, but other than The Elements of Style, which I admire, and Charlotte's Web, which I've adored since my childhood, I haven't read anything else by him. Your review makes his other work sound appealing.

>162 edwinbcn: As you say, a coincidence that you read The Lawless Roads while I was reading The Power and the Glory. Based on your review, I'm sure you're right that the novel is better than the travelogue, but iyou make an interesting comparison to China.

Yes I think the answer is don't bother with The Lawless Roads but do read The Power and the Glory

Yes, I think there is quite a hype around Zadie Smith, and my feeling is that this collection of essays is cranked out to cash in "while the going is good". I read her novel The Autographman which was real trash. I was not going to try more, but then I received this advanced readers copy of essays, and read those. Changing my mind. Occasional essays just underscores my conclusion to avoid reading more by Zadie Smith.

066. My autobiography
Finished reading: 5 June 2014



The closeness of "no speech" and "dumb" is so near, that in conjunction with the image of the silliness of the characters, prortrayed by Charles Chaplin it is easy to believe that Chaplin was a simpleton. The autobiography proves any such believer wrong.

The epithet Dickensian is sometimes applied to the autobiography of Charles Chaplin as Chaplin, born in 1889, was born in, and therefore considered belonging to, the Victorian Age, and because his childhood in London of poverty and hardship so closely resembled that of some characters in Dickens' novels. Born into a family of actors, Charles Chaplin soon started his career on the stage, with limited success, initially, in London and Paris.

The "birth" of the classical character "the tramp" does not happen until p. 145, where it is described as a purely coincidental result of improvisation. The largest part of My autobiography deals with the spectacular career Chaplin made in the United States, from being an actor, improvising and personalizing typical gigs to the development of his own film studios. The history of many of Chaplin's movies is described in detail in the context of both the historical background and the cinematographic inventions.

Towards the end of his life, Charles Chaplin was a respected man, and on close terms with the jet-set of all continents. He could not stay in the United States, because of his sympathies for socialism, and his escape, securing his assets is one of the most exciting parts of the autobiography.

My autobiography is a fascinating time document, chronicling the life of a film icon we all know. At nearly 500 pages, it is an extremely well-written piece of history, which is never dry or boring, although a certain interest in film and the business of film and film studios helps. I was never bothered by Chaplin's language, and felt his prose style was entirely natural, and appropriate. As the author of his own screen plays, a fact not often highlighted, My autobiography is another text which is well worth reading, allowing readers a peek into Chaplin's life and a wonderful reading experience of an autobiography belonging to the best pieces of autobiographical writing in the Twentieth Century.

>166 edwinbcn: My Autobiography sounds very interesting. I'm going to look into that one.

Excellent review of Charlie Chaplin's autobio, Edwin, which I also may try to find.

Enjoyed your excellent review of My Autobiography; Charles Chaplin

>Rebecca and Barry,

Indeed, I think The Lawless Roads is best left alone; no need to feel the urge to read it since shelf life of books is unlimited. Leave it to experts to read.

Rebecca, the observation that China is comparable to Mexico, came from Barry's review of the The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz.

Having just com back from a one-week holiday in Amsterdam, I brough back with me several books, among which my copy of that book, in the Spanish edition of El laberinto de la soledad, which I hope to read before the end of the year as part of the Literary Centennial readings, Paz being born in 1914.

I also brought along some of the books by Hermann Hesse, hoping to reread Roßhalde for the Literary Centennial group (published in 1914).

Thanks, Nana. Chaplin's biography is a very good book, included in Penguin's Modern Classics Series.

067. Payback. Debt and the shadow side of wealth
Finished reading: 11 June 2014



Payback. Debt and the shadow side of wealth is the result, in book form, of the five lectures Margaret Atwood delivered for the CBC Massey Lectures Series in 2008. Each lecture explores the way debt is part of literary works.

In as far as debt and finance are interesting topics, the talks put the spotlight on the financial aspect of literary works, most of which readers are all familiar. Well-known works featuring examples of avarice, greed and envy are paraded along with many other works, which are shown to contain elements related to the world of finance.

The result is a very eclectic compilation of ideas, which often feels stretched or far-fetched. There is no clear development or progression, merely a piling of often unconnected ideas. As in many literary works, finance and debts are possibly minor motives, forefronting the issue seemingly deflects the theme of many novels. For instance, Atwood writes "When I was young and simple, I thought the nineteenth century novel was driven by love; but now, in my more complicated riper years, I see that it's also driven by money, which indeed hold a more central place in it than love does." She goes on to show that in Wuthering Heights Heathcliffe's victory in love is won through the financial ruin of Linton. Regardless of how interesting that might be, it is doubtful that many people will want to reread Wuthering Heights from that point of view.

Besides exploring debt and finance as themes in literature, Atwood also extensively looks at the way language deals with money matters. She illustrates the origin and way nineteenth century authors used the word "ruin", and uses The Pilgrim's Progress to show how "death washes away all debt". There are many literary works in which contracts bind characters to a deathly bond, and Atwood uses both well-known and lesser literary works or fairytales to demonstrate this. Payback is also rich in detail. For example, how many readers would realize that Ebenezer Scrooge's given name, "Ebenezer" means "rock that helps" showing that Scrooge has the good in him all the while (p.99).

It is obvious that Atwood had no shortage of material to choose from. In fact, the wealth of material presented is the weakness of the book. There are far too many examples, to make Payback and pleasant read. Each page contains multiple examples from very different genre and periods. This dazzling of snippets of information keeps the author from more in-depth reflection. The author has also branched out too much, by including virtually all aspects of finance, and taking on all of world literature. Thus, the theme has become too broad, and instead of a well-paced contemplation, the book reads as a light, too light, entertainment. It should be remembered that these are not essays, but lectures, probably for an audience not used to too much depth.



Other books I have read by Margaret Atwood:
Strange things. The malevolent north in Canadian literature

068. New Granada. Twenty months in the Andes
Finished reading: 11 June 2014



Western authors have a way of thinking and writing about the rest of the world that has not much changed over the past 200 years. People and their cultures in Africa, Asia, including the Middle East, and Latin-America are the object of study, and anthropological description often primarily serves to emphasize the superiority of Western man and civilization. As a result of this consistency in style, New Granada. Twenty months in the Andes by Isaac F. Holton reads as a contemporary travelogue. Only occasional mention of swords and pistols were lying on the table (p. 7) suggests that the book was first published in 1857.

Its author was a university lecturer, and although his prime interest was botany, plants and crops feature but little in the book, which deals mainly with the people he encountered, their culture and customs. Holton's style is less that of an academic, than of a journalist, and although he held a chair as a Professor of Botany in New York, his descriptions of people in their everyday lives, their houses, schools and ceremonies, more betray his background as a missionary, and his future career as a journalist.

It seems Holton was fascinated by all and everything he saw, and apparently, the astonishment was mutual. In his dealings, Holton treats the indigenous people in a fair way, observing all aspects of life and leaving none undescribed. The use of Spanish words in the text is ubiquitous, but not overbearing.

Sometimes, Holton is truly baffled, as during his visit to a prison. The prison ward is out on the street, while the door to the cell is unlocked. Answering the traveller why the prisoners do not attempt escape, the tell him escape from the adobe dwelling would be a piece of cake, but what withholds them is that escape "is against the law." (p. 126).

Travelling through Colombia, Holton remarks that Colombian coffee is the best he has ever had, and his spelling of "Cho-co-la-te" spells out a similar fascination.

What makes the reading of New Granada. Twenty months in the Andes feel so modern is perhaps the use of direct speech. Short conversations are rendered in direct speech throughout the book. It also contributes to the sense that over and above all, Holton was foremostly interested in the people he met on the way.

New Granada. Twenty months in the Andes remained in print for more than 100 years, and was studied as an authoritative source on Latin America throughout that period, well up-to the 1970s.

069. A Writer's House in Wales
Finished reading: 12 June 2014



In the early years of the new century, the National Geographic Society invited a number of well-known authors to contribute a volume to its new series of National Geographic Directions. Each author chose a location to write about, and apparently authors were left free in their choice of what to write.

Jan Morris, the renowned travel writer, chose to write about her home, which, as the titles shows, is quite literary about the house she lives in, more than about Wales in general.

The result is a rather self-indulgent description of her home, which often feels drawn out to fill the pages, and make sure to produce enough copy. It verges on the edge of vanity.

A Writer's House in Wales is the penultimate work of an author who has come to the end of her career as a writer. Since she is most well-known as a travel writer, describing far-away places, it seems fitting that in her last-but-one work she comes, or rather, stays home. A sympathetic volume, but of little interest.

070. The Virago book of wicked verse
Finished reading: 15 June 2014



The fact that men write about love, sex and eroticism is self-evident, but perhaps it is still a taboo for women to do the same. The title of The Virago book of wicked verse suggests that this anthology is a compilation of naughty poems, but in fact, it is nothing but a very tame collection of poetry.

As can be expected, the quality of an anthology is reflected by the ability of the anthologist to make an interesting selection. In her short introduction, Dawson writes that looking for wicked, "roguish" poetry she was steered away from the type of poetry women are traditionally expected to write, about love, nature, the hearth, children and women waiting for soldiers to return. This characterization already shows that Dawson, although this might be true for traditional poetry, has a very tainted view of poetry by women. Throughout the anthology, the reader keeps wondering with what authority Dawson has made her choices. Is she really knowledgeable in the area of poetry by women?

How else is it possible that The Virago book of wicked verse, in more than 170 pages, contains hardly any interesting poem. Although some of the poets are well-known, many female poets athologised here are utterly unknown or have already been forgotten. The anthology was first published in 1992, when Dawson was just a beginning author, which may explain the inclusion of many poets from the 1970s and 80s, who are now obscure. In fact, Dawson herself is a bit obscure, and barely a presence in the literary world.

It is possible that female readers find this selection exciting, possibly some of those women who are waiting for soldiers to return.

071. Hell's Angels
Finished reading: 21 June 2014



The Penguin Modern Classics series publishes Hunter S. Thompson's first novel simply as Hell's Angels, a much shorter version of the novel, aka Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. It is a non-fiction novel about the legendary band of motor riders, known as the Hell's Angels.

In 1966, the year Hell's Angels was published, the genre of the non-fiction novel was brand new. The genre came into existence during the preceding decade, while Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood, published in 1965, is its most well-known example. With Hell's Angels Hunter S. Thompson is identified as having initiated the genre of Gonzo journalism, i.e. the style of news reporting that allows for fictional elements, without the attempt of objectivity.

1965/66 was not the time the Hells Angels emerged, but it was a moment the club achieved notoriety. In fact, at that time, the Hells Angels were not the only organized band, that was characterized by a sub-culture and cult of violence. However, the Hells Angels, through their high degree of organization, and the luck of having been led by a number of smart people, and their ability to tie in with contemporary Beat-culture, outlasted most of the other gangs and clubs.

In Hell's Angels Thompson sketches a very accurate portrait of the Hells Angels, their lifestyle and their cult. It is probably the most readable sociological introduction to the phenomenon. To obtain first-hand experience and knowledge of the Hell's Angels, Hunter S. Thompson joined their ranks. Thus, he was able to experience their culture very close-up. In Hell's Angels he describes many of the Club's typical elements, but also provides detailed explanations about their membership, and less savory details, such as the Angels habit to wear the same outfit without ever changing it, as it stiffens into a harness from dirt, piss and vomit, not even necessarily all their own.

A weakness of the book is seemingly that despite the fact that Thompson joined the angels, the book is heavily reliant on newspaper reports, and, since the book describes a very short period, it is thereby also very repetitive. The author is barely able to hold the reader's attention, as the full-length book becomes a bit tiresome, and a shorter version would possible be much more powerful.

Nonetheless, Hell's Angels makes for excellent reading, and forms a remarkable piece of sociological writing on the side-lines of Beat culture in the mid-1960s.

Enjoying catching up with your as always varied reading, especially New Granada and Hell's Angels. Sorry you didn't like most of these books too much.

I think I would enjoy Hell's Angels A sociological study of that group sounds fascinating

072. Toxic flora. Poems
Finished reading: 22 June 2014



The exquisitely beautiful cover, and the enticing title persuaded me to pick up Toxic flora. Poems by Kimiko Hahn. However, her poetry in this collection was a disappointment.

The poems in this collection are written in free verse. The tone of most poems is harsh, lacking lyrical quality. The author has declared that she used the science section of the New York Times for inspiration, but reading the poems it seems as if she is a stranger to field of natural history, and has not sufficiently internalized the dynamic of the natural world. The poems therefore remain mechanical and lack passion.

In a broader sense, the poems do not seem to speak from the heart. In the balance, it seems frustrations are more prominent than the more usual emotions, such as love. Instead, it seems the author has appropriated the language of nature to express her own human frustrations.

Personally, I am not charmed by poetry with expletives, and the repeated use of fcuk and fcuk off.

073. Paper nautilus
Finished reading: 24 June 2014



Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

Paper nautilus by the Australian author Nicholas Jose is a well-crafted and beautiful novel. The structure of the novel, which unfolds like the spiralling of the nautilus shell, is initially difficult to follow, and a bit hard to get into. This is because in the novel, the chapters tell the story backwards, each chapter forming an episode earlier in the lives of the characters. Pivotal events are not revealed until the last two chapters of the book.

The story relates the family history of the Tregenza brothers, Jack and Peter, Grand-mother Irene, Vera and her daughter, Penny. Their family history is dramatic, and shaped by historical events played out in Australia during the Second World War. The reader's lack of knowledge at the beginning of the story, mirrors the unwittingness of the characters in the novel, and the silent resolution, which Jack carries in his heart. That resolution is based on a pact with his savior and a promise to his brother.

Paper nautilus is one of Nicholas Jose 's earlier novels. It is firml placed in the literary tradition of Australia, and not influenced by his later experience in China. Paper nautilus is a very original and very well-written novel of great power. The reprinted edition of 2006, shows that the novel continues to find a broader readership, as it well should.



Other books I have read by Nicholas Jose:
Original face
The red thread

074. Boneshepherds. Poems
Finished reading: 26 June 2014



The poetry of the American poet of Filipino origin, Patrick Rosal is original and daring. In Boneshepherds. Poems he explores themes of violence and pain. In many of the poems, Rosal looks back to life in his hometown in the Philippines, evoking the fields surrounding the village, while making connections to the more hectic, and dangerous life of crime and violence in his new home, the United States.

Many of the poems in this collection are written in free verse, but retain a natural rhythm and cadence, which helps the reader propel through the poems. The images of anger and pain, are often contrasted with images of beauty from the natural world. About half of the poems approach a prose-like style, narrating as much as evoking images chosen by the author.

While many poems are based on a type of street-kid wisdom, other poems are infused with a religious sense, echoing the cruelty of some stories in the Bible, as, for instance, the crucifixion, in the poem "Man Hanging Upside Down".

Here is a man hanging upside down
from a makeshift cross.

No credible witness can seem to tell us
his name or where he comes from.

Let the record show,
he did lie in at least seven dozen bits,

until the local birds plucked his scraps
from the river. They carried first an elbow,

then a toe, then half a skull and so on,
piecing the body together again

incorrectly: left arm for right,
an eye for a thumb, a moonlight for knees,

until he hung again from the cross
he was nailed to in the first place

at the intersection of Jordan and Faith,
and truth be told, few of us notice

how often those ragtag blackbirds
have come to squawk at every window in town.

Who is to say if this man hanging upside down
was corrupt or loved, only that some birds

set themselves in the middle of the night
to the aerial miracle of silt made flesh

a crew of winged scoundrels, some half-mute, half-blind,
that plucked a body's remnants from muddy banks

and at the crossroads of Faith and Truth Be Told
reassembled the figure of a man

who must surely ache, the way he strains to turn
his gaze away from so many nations at once.

075. Personality
Finished reading: 12 July 2014



Personality is a fast read, perhaps because readers are so familiar with this type of story: the career development of young pop stars. Each generation has its own, and in each generation, some of these youthful celebreties derail, under the pressure of a sky-rocketing career to stardom.

In Andrew O'Hagan's novel Personality, the prodigy is called Maria. After winning a talent show on television, she is propelled onto the stage and the novel describes her incredible career till the pinnacle of success and the vertigo that she experiences with such fast ascension. However, the novel is not much about Maria. Although she is the main protagonist, the novel does not focus on her, but rather describes the people around her. This indirect approach creates estrangement in the reader, and the course of the story is not always clear. Although the story is told in chronological order, there seem to be gaps.

While Personality is a story of success, the story is depersonalized, to focus more on the phenomenon, and less on the individual performer. As is the lives of other pop stars, Maria encounters some typical developments at pitfalls of that type of career, such as an episode in which she is plagued by anorexia nervosa and the danger of obsessive fans.

However, although Maria is somewhat on the background, the novel does seek to establish common ground in terms of the type of personality that is needed to be successful, to succeed and to withstand the pressure and danger. In the case of Maria, it seems that her stamina and resilience are as much a feature of her individual personality, as well as a trait in her family background, coming from a struggling Italian immigrant family. Both her talent and to sing and her talent to survive run in the family.

Andrew O'Hagan based Personality on a real story, but this is not apparent to readers of the novel, and neither relevant. Parts of the novel were less interesting, and the story seems to be a bit long and drawn out. However, other parts are described vividly, leaving a strong impression, particularly the enrapturing climax.



Other books I have read by Andrew O'Hagan:
The missing
The Atlantic Ocean. Essays on Britain and America

076. This is how. Proven aid in overcoming shyness, molestation, fatness, spinsterhood, grief, disease, lushery, decrepitude & more. For young and old alike.

Finished reading: 13 July 2014



It is well-documented that many readers find it difficult to separate the author from the main protagonist, particularly when a novel is narrated in the first-persone mode. If so, then it is to be expected that such readers will assume that in autobiographical fiction, the first person narrator is most likely the author, with varying degrees of historical accuracy. This dilemma drives most authors to varying degrees of anger and madness, but not Augusten Burroughs. In fact, Augusten Burroughs plays a fantastic trick on his readership.

Autobiographical fiction, sometimes called autofiction, is fiction based on or incorporating the author's own experience into the narrative. However, Augusten Burroughs novels and stories should perhaps better be characterized as "fictional autobiography", but not in the traditional sense of the description of the biography of a fictional character. Rather, Augusten Burroughs pretends to write about his own life, but the fictional persona that appears in his work under his own name is a fictional alter ego. Burroughs styles this persona as having a schizotypal personality disorder: as a result, readers are persuaded to believe that Augusten Burroughs has lived the life of a madman, growing up is a dysfunctional family of both parents being mad.

The fact that Augusten Burroughs works are madly popular is potentially worrisome, as it must be assumed that many readers cannot separate fact from fiction. While the collection of "short stories (some people characterize them as "essays") Magical Thinking is still mostly hilariously funny, his memoirs Running With Scissors. A memoir, Dry: A Memoir and A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father are generally passed of and believed to be autobiographical.

It will be curious to see how long Augusten Burroughs can keep up this pretense, and where his work will go in the future. For the time being, he has published a book which fits the bill and cleverly balanced on the same edge of autobiography, incorporating fictional elements from his previous works, while suggesting that the work is autobiographical. It is also very likely that This is how. Proven aid in overcoming shyness, molestation, fatness, spinsterhood, grief, disease, lushery, decrepitude & more. For young and old alike. is written as a bridge, to enable Burroughs a transition to a different type of fiction.

This is how. Proven aid in overcoming shyness, molestation, fatness, spinsterhood, grief, disease, lushery, decrepitude & more. For young and old alike. is styled as a self-help manual to overcome various mental conditions and psychological disorders. The self-help manual is a popular genre, not often used as a framework for fiction. In This is how, the autobiographical persona Augusten Burroughs claims to have overcome a number of his personality disorders, previously described in his autobiographical fiction. Thus, Burroughs reaches out a helping hand to readers with any type of mental problems.

This is how has its funny moments, but is not nearly as funny as earlier works. It is both a satire on contemporary society, the genre of self-help manuals and the whole well-being industry around it, and, one may surmise, the gullibility of some readers to believe in the autobiographical persona of Augusten Burroughs. Unlike "real" self-help manuals, This is how does not have a table of contents of an index, preventing readers from looking up particular problems or skipping to their own issue. Instead, readers have to go through the whole book.

Most of the disorders in This is how are 'real' or 'veritable', but a number are ludicrous. The first, "How to Ride an Elevator" is much on a par with some of the best stories in Magical Thinking, including razor-sharp dialogue:

She was looking at me with an expression of incredulity mixed with boldness. The highlights in her spiky hair had a greenish cast in the unflattering elevator lighting and her lipstick provided her with an upper lip that I saw she did not possess.
"I said, it's not that bad," and she gave me that frank, eye-brows up, let's-be-real-here, look. "Whatever it is that happened, it can't possibly be as bad as it looks on your face. How 'bout tring on a smile for size. And if you're all out, I've got one you can borrow."
My first thought was, "It's leaking out of me? People can see it?"
My second thought was, "Die, bitch." ( p. 2)

This is how is an enjoyable read, although towards the end, some guru-speak fatigue seeps in, and originality feels a bit stretched.

Augusten Burroughs has a very peculiar sense of humor that mixes the hilarious with the most horrific. This is how compares well with Magical Thinking, omitting some of the more morally objectionable issues of the novels and memoirs.

Augusten Burroughs seems to occupy quite a unique niche in American letters, that could perhaps be best characterized as postmodern satire.



Other books I have read by Augusten Burroughs:
Dry. A memoir
Running with scissors. A memoir
Magical thinking. True stories