As I await the (re)emergence of my beard, I find myself rekindling an interest in the works of Jules Verne. Currently, I'm reading Five Weeks in a Balloon. I'd be hard pressed to name another author who effortlessly exudes such a sense of wonder, as if he were discovering his book's subject for the first time.
The Brothers Four performed the title song of the book's 1962 film adaptation, and while Red Buttons' tired shtick prevents me from watching that film, The Brothers Four's delightful rendition of the theme tune plays endlessly in my mind as I glory in the book's Victorian adventures. The edition of the novel I have includes cross-hatching-heavy illustrations by Riou and de Montaut from 1867 (a year I suddenly feel compelled to explore).
As I await the (re)emergence of my beard, I find myself rekindling an interest in the works of Jules Verne. Currently, I'm reading Five Weeks in a Balloon. I'd be hard pressed to name another author who effortlessly exudes such a sense of wonder, as if he were discovering his book's subject for the first time.
The Brothers Four performed the title song of the book's 1962 film adaptation, and while Red Buttons' tired shtick prevents me from watching that film, The Brothers Four's delightful rendition of the theme tune plays endlessly in my mind as I glory in the book's Victorian adventures. The edition of the novel I have includes cross-hatching-heavy illustrations by Riou and de Montaut from 1867 (a year I suddenly feel compelled to explore).
Recently I went back to JOURNEY. It was unreadable. The first part was endless discussion of gelogy3... I gave up.
Dropping off a couple of bags at one of our local charity shops, I made a delightful find - an illustrated copy of Umberto Eco’s “The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana”. It appeared never to have been opened and was 30p! I gave them £1.
A sixty year old antiquarian bookseller recovers from a medical crisis with no personal memories. He can recall plots and characters from all the books he’s ever read but has to re-learn his family and friends. I’m about halfway through and he’s returned to his rambling childhood home in rural Italy to rediscover his youth to get clues about the rest of his adult life.
As unusual with Eco there are hilarious passages, notably when he’s introduced to his beautiful assistant and has to piece together whether or not they’ve had a fling.
With every Eco book I’ve read there are many literary, historical and religious references that fly unimpeded miles over my head, but that never bothers me. The significant ones can be inferred from context and the novels are just so damn good that I don’t feel as if I’m missing out.
My two current favourite authors are Eco and Murakami (whose latest book “Killing Commendatore”) was my previous bedtime read, and their styles are quite different but what they have in common is a unique way of looking at events and making you wonder how you’d react under those circumstances. Each of their books is an event.
Complicity - Iain Banks. Bought it in hardback when just published. Got it signed by the author. Read many times.
Cameron Colley is a Scottish left-wing newspaper journalist. In one of his articles he ranted about how a social equaliser could take out various hate figures - an arms dealer, a judge who goes easy on rapists, etc.
Now those things have started happening - the judge gets sodomised by an intruder using a dildo; the arms dealer loses the use of his arms (tourniquets) and gets injected with HIV-infected semen as a bonus.
Colley has no alibi for each attack and the police start closing in.
Just finished, D-Day: The Soldiers Story by Giles Milton. Just brilliant, he really brings you into the heart of the fighting with the soldiers, so much going on, & so many people being killed. Everything about that day was epic (& mostly terrible), I couldn't put it down. I've ordered Max Hastings, Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 1944 (hardback just a couple of pounds s/h from Amazon).
Just finished MIRACLE CREEK by Angie Kim. It will probably be my favorite book for 2019. It mainly takes place over a six day trial to see what arsonist blew up a hyperbaric chamber that lead to several deaths. Her writing is superb, and the mystery is very complex. She also takes on themes like how far parents of disabled children will go to cure them as well as their exhaustion, alternative medicine, immigration, and Asian stereotypes. It was a profound read.
Adventures in Quantumland: Exploring Our Unseen Reality by Ruth Kastner
It's a follow-up to her previous non-technical book on quantum physics (which I mentioned on this thread).
The book is about a particular interpretation of quantum theory, the Transactional Interpretation (TI).
TI makes sense of those things that make the subject seem mysterious: the Double-Slit Experiment, Schrodinger's Cat, the role of the conscious observer, the measurement problem, the Born Rule, and so on.
She delves a little deeper this time. There's some good stuff on Dirac's "brac-ket" notation. She explains why quantum physics doesn't mesh well with Einstein's Relativity, and how this problem can be overcome.
Also got a few other books on my "(re-)read" list, but that's what I'm currently reading.
I take it's good if it's a re-read. I was considering buying it but unsure. The only Russian sci-fi I read was hard to be a god and roadside picnic, both of which I liked a lot.
Just finished LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN by Ben Ames Williams. The film is a classic and a friend told me I should read the original novel. I have to say that the novel is superior in character development and understanding why these people behaved the way they did; however, the screenplay was an admirable exercise in distilling the essential plot elements for a normal length feature.
