Paul C with books and more in 2014 Part 10

Thread hit double figures for 2014, and it is time for the ubiquitous image of WWI - The fields of poppies. Forever the poppy is to be the image of remembrance.

The archetypical poem of remembrance is Laurence Binyon's For the Fallen written in 1914.



I today received it as a poem in his collection The Winnowing Fan and felt it was appropriate. The fourth stanza contains some of the most famous lines in English poetry.


With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

2014 Reading

January
1. A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe (1966) 150 pp
2. Touch Wood: Poems and a Story by Dannie Abse (2002) 88pp
3. My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918) 248pp
4. 77 Dream Songs by John Berryman (1964) 84 pp
5. Novel on Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith (1936) 252 pp
6. The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak (2011) 191 pp
7. The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith (1892) 171 pp
8. Fools of Fortune by William Trevor (1983) 207 pp
9. Collected Poems 1951-2000 by Charles Causley (2000) 421 pp
10. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War by Christopher Clark (2012) 562 pp
11. Landscape at the End of the Century by Stephen Dunn (1991) 94 pp
12. North From Rome by Helen MacInnes (1958) 394 pp
13. Dream Work by Mary Oliver (1986) 89 pp
14. David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky (1929) 159 pp

February
15. Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan (2009) 179 pp
16. Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E Feist (1982) 485 pp
17. If This is a Man by Primo Levi (1947) 179 pp
18. The Hawk in the Rain by Ted Hughes (1957) 54 pp

Best of 2014

Fiction
David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky
Fools of Fortune by William Trevor
My Antonia by Willa Cather

Poetry
Touch Wood: Poems and a Story by Dannie Abse
77 Dream Songs by John Berryman

Non-Fiction
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War by Christopher Clark

FEBRUARY READING PLAN

Last month I targeted 14 books and I managed to make it with minutes to spare. This month despite it being a shorter one I expect to read more because of a likely appointment of a new driver, plenty of travel to Vietnam, Ghana and Brunei and less posting opportunities.

Plan 18:

1. Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan (2009) READ
2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)
3. Magician : Apprentice by Raymond Feist (1982) READ
4. The Hawk in the Rain by Ted Hughes (1957) READ
5. Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (1939)
6. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (1865)
7. Life Studies by Robert Lowell (1959)
8. Adam Resurrected by Yoram Kaniuk (1969)
9. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy (1886)
10. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)
11. The Song of the Cold by Edith Sitwell (1945)
12. Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner (1898)
13. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola (1867)
14. Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg (1916)
15. Legend of a Suicide by David Vann (2008)
16. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (1962)
17. Gossip from the Forest by Thomas Keneally (1975)
18.If This is a Man by Primo Levi (1947) READ

One is a gift from Jean (Majkia) (#1)
Four poetry anthologies (#'s 4, 7, 11 & 14)
Two are on WW1 (#'s 16, 17)
18 different years in my 150 challenge
6 american writers but 5 states to add to the challenge
1 is for Mark's American Author challenge (#2)
1 is for the Fantasy February (#3)
1 is a re-read (#12)
1 is to finish after starting last year (#6)
2 are Holocaust related (#'s 8, 18)
4 are 1001 books; 1st Ed : (#'s 9, 10, 13, 18)

Current Reading

Category Challenge 14 for 14

Pyramid Challenge

1 World War One (2 READ)
2 Yorkshire Writers (2 READ)
3 Writers new to me (4 READ)
4 Books about the Holocaust (1 READ)
5 Books from the first edition of 1001 books (2 READ)
6 Ahem, Science Fiction and Fantasy (1 READ)
7 Series followed
8 Biographies
9 Books on the Shelves since 2012
10 Gifts from friends
11 Re-reads
12 Nobel contenders (1 READ)
13 Short Story Collections
14 Vintage Crime/Thrillers (1 READ)

150 Years of Reading Bold Will Be Years I have Finished This Year

The Object is to read one book from each year from 1865 to 2014 all in 2014. No author to be repeated:

1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874,
1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884,
1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894,
1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904,
1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914,
1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924
1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934,
1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944,
1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954,
1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964,
1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984,
1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994,
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Stateside Challenge

In addition to Mark's American Author challenge I am trying to read a book by an author born in each of the US states + DC + one american born overseas:

1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California Magician : Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist
6. Colorado
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. Hawaii
12. Idaho
13. Illinois
14. Indiana
15. Iowa
16. Kansas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana
19. Maine
20. Maryland
21. Massachusetts
22. Michigan
23. Minnesota
24. Mississippi
25. Missouri
26. Montana
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire
30. New Jersey
31. New Mexico
32. New York - Landscape at the End of the Century by Stephen Dunn
33. North Carolina
34. North Dakota
35. Ohio - Dream Work by Mary Oliver
36. Oklahoma - 77 Dream Songs by John Berryman
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania - The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina
41. South Dakota
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia - My Antonia by Willa Cather
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming
51. DC
52. American born outside USA

TBR Records

Physical Books on Shelves 1/1/14 = 2,690
Added to 2014 = 100
Read in 2014 = 18
Revised TBR Books = 2,772

Pages to read 1/1/14 = 974,030
Pages added in 2014 = 29,744
Pages read in 2014 = 3,106
Revised Pages to read = 1,000,668

Total Kindle E Books to Read = 3,873
Read in 2014 = 0
Added in 2014 = 0
Revised Kindle Books to Read = 3,873

Total TBR = 6,637 books

Series List:

Please refer to my page on fict-fact

http://www.fictfact.com/list/PaulCranswick/19440/ALL

NOBEL CHALLENGE (This year's read additions in bold)

NOBEL WINNERS READ WITH FAVOURITE WORK READ SO FAR:
2013 Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro
2011 The Half-Finished Heaven by Tomas Transtromer
2010 The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa
2009 The Appointment by Herta Muller
2007 The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
2006 Snow by Orhan Pamuk
2005 The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
2003 The Master of Petersburg by J.M.Coetzee
2001 A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
1998 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saramago
1997 Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo
1995 Station Island by Seamus Heaney
1994 A Quiet Life by Kenzaburo Oe
1992 Selected Poems by Derek Walcott
1991 July's People by Nadine Gordimer
1988 Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
1987 On Grief and Reason by Joseph Brodsky
1985 The Flanders Road by Claude Simon
1983 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1982 A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1976 Herzog by Saul Bellow
1972 Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Boll
1971 The Captain's Verses by Pablo Neruda
1970 Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
1968 Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata
1964 The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre
1962 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1961 Bridge On the Drina by Ivo Andric
1958 Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
1957 The Plague by Albert Camus
1955 The Atom Station by Halldor Laxness
1954 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
1953 History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill
1952 Knot of Vipers by Francois Mauriac
1951 Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist
1949 The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
1948 The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot
1947 The Counterfeiters by Andre Gide
1946 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
1938 The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
1932 A Man of Property by John Galsworthy
1930 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
1925 Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
1923 Collected Poems by W.B. Yeats
1921 And the Gods Will Have Blood by Anatole France
1913 He (Shey) by Rabindranath Tagore
1907 Kim by Rudyard Kipling

UNREAD NOBEL WINNERS ON THE SHELVES

2012 Red Sorghum by Mo Yan
2008 The Interrogation by J.M.G. Le Clezio
2004 The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
2002 Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz
2000 Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
1999 The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
1996 Poems New and Collected by Wislawa Szymborska
1993 Jazz by Toni Morrison
1990 The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz
1989 The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo Jose Cela
1986 Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka
1984 The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert by Jaroslav Seifert
1981 Kafka's Other Trial by Elias Canetti
1978 Enemies : A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
1973 Voss by Patrick White
1969 Molloy by Samuel Beckett
1966 A Book That Was Lost by S.Y. Agnon
1965 And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov
1950 A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
1939 The Maid Silja by F.E. Sillanpaa
1936 A Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
1934 Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
1933 The Village by Ivan Bunin
1929 Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
1928 Kristin Lavransdatter : 1 The Wreath by Sigrid Undset
1926 Reeds in the Wind by Grazia Deledda
1920 Hunger by Knut Hamsun
1909 The Saga of Gosta Berling by Selma Lagerlof
1905 Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

So far read 47 laureates
29 laureates unread on the shelves
35 laureates whose works neither owned not read.

Is it safe to enter?

Hello nice new thread .. again:)

@wilkiec I think Paul uses 12 posts for all his stats and things so it should be safe

Found and following!

Diana - You win! I still have your address from last year so I'll see what I can find for you. xx

Calm - You are right, I always use 12 at the beginning in my predictable fashion.

Kath - Wouldn't be the same without you trying to keep up. xx

Oh, I caught this thread early! Hi, Paul!

Foggi - Lovely to see you. You did indeed get here early, literally only 15 minutes old.

Oh wow! It's my lucky day today!

Happy new thread, Paul. xx

Hi Paul!

Diana, I got lucky with Jack Sheppard and hopefully I can find something else to equally titilate.

Nora - It is my lucky day today with so many belles visiting me in succession. My own Belle (my youngest daughter) is quite suspiciously looking after me today enquiring as to whether I need more coffee, etc. Her every favour and kindness usually costs me money, so I'll have to wait and see what she really wants.

Happy 10th, Paul!

Lovely poppies.

Thanks Amber - at the rate you're going you won't be far behind me to 10 threads either. Last year on 13 February you had 649 posts. You have 1,356 posts already in 2014 considerably more than twice the speed of last year.

Paul, it finally happened. . A few days away and I didn't make even one post on your last thread I did read through it, however, and enjoyed the conversation and stats. Best of luck with your ambitious reading plans for February!

While I was posting in your last thread you snuck in a new one! What is a girl to do?

Donna - Thank you my dear. You have your hands literally full with grandkids this year so far so I'm surprised you are catching any of our threads! I am making good progress with Feist, Levi, Hughes and Morgan - Faulkner, Keneally will be hot on their heels.

Gail - Well pretty much what you gorn n dun. Much happier with you over here where I can see you. xx

Thanks for posting that Laurence Binyon poem, Paul. It's certainly a soul-stirrer. If I was going to pick one book from your latest book targets, it would be Life Studies. "Skunk Hour", in it, knocks me out: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15279 . It all was quite a ground-breaker in its time, and it's still powerful.

Eccomi.

Hej Paul, nice thread pop up

X marks the spot for your 10th thread of 2014, Paul. Beautiful picture of the poppies field.

I am so behind on the threads, Paul, but I am grabbing a seat here before this thread gets away from me. Congrats on thread #10 - LOVE the poppies up top. Hoping that Tuesday was kind to you.

I'm using running so fast to get through your threads that I don't even pause to wave but I'll get one in before this one gets too long *wave*

Joe - I do need to read more American poets so I made a wee list last year of an alphabetical triste through the genre:
Ashbery, Berry, Berryman, Bishop, Brooks, Bukowski, Collins, Crane, Creeley, Cummings, Dickinson, Dunn, Frost, Ginsberg, Hecht, Hughes,Jarrell, Kinnell, Levertov, Levine, Longfellow, Lowell, McGrath, Olds, Oliver, Oppen, Plath, Pound, St. Vincent Millay, Sandburg, Sexton, Shapiro, Snyder, Stevens, Trethewey, Whitman, Wilbur, Williams etc

RD - My italian is little better than my latin dear fellow; don't know my Loren from my Lollobrigida.

Paul - Are you sure it shouldn't be "nice thread poppy up"?

Julia - A kiss so late in the day will send me to sleep with a smile in my dreams.

Hi Paul, what an evocative photo to start thread 10, reminds me of a visit to WW1 cemetaries and the Menin Gate we made in 1986 during our holiday in Belgium. Just walking around the rows and rows of graves and a walk through some of the trenches made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, eerily I felt as if I could hear voices and noise and will have to go back so that I can more fully understand what these brave fellows went through.

>35 PaulCranswick: Good list!

My first William Trevor finally arrived, The Story of Lucy Gault.

Mamie - Tuesday was very good actually. When I bought the construction company about a year ago it was in the red and financially a bit distressed. Managed to clean up its issues with banks and collected some of its bad debt, successfully completed one small project quite profitably and today we landed a river rehabilitation project in the Southern State of Johor (Hani's home state) worth US$12.5 million in an open tender exercise against 76 other bidders. Should be profitable too if we perform the work properly. So a bit of a landmark day really.

Celebrated as I normally do by adding a few books whilst I was waiting for my lawyer to turn up in the coffee shop located inside the bookstore suggested by me as a suitable venue to discuss contract drafts. Ok, I know it was lame:

83. Carrie by Stephen King (1974) 242 pp
The 1974 breakthrough novel.
84. Salem's Lot by Stephen King (1975) 751 pp
Just in case I wasn't confused enough where to start reading him
85. The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian (2013) 304 pp
Lauded story of chinese reindeer herders coming face-to-face with the 20th C
86. Six Years by Harlan Coben (2013) 358 pp
Another writer I must get to soon.
87. Legend by David Gemmell (1984) 337 pp
Apparently no relation to Archie, but a high fantasy icon
88. War by J.M.G. Le Clezio (1970) 288 pp
France's last Nobel laureate remains insufficiently read.

Books in 2014 : 88

Pages Added in 2014 : 29,744

Revised Physical TBR: 2,764

Reba - waving right back at yer. xx

John - I don't think (and thankfully so) that many of them really knew what they went through. Some of them were shipped out, stuck in a trench and then within a day or two ordered over the top and done. Crazy times.
I was just thinking that the hair on the back of my neck is just too long at the moment and a visit to my Indonesian barber is overdue.

Thanks Joe. I think I will always read more British than American poetry simply because of my roots but the expansion of horizons reminds me that the world is round.

Diana - Ahh his award winner but very similiar concerns to much of his writing.

Congratulations both on your winning bid and also your book haul. I can see you are really serious about reading your first Stephen King this year as you've added another couple of options. I remember Salem's Lot as amazingly creepy, if that's not too redundant a description for a King novel.

Julia - Thanks. It is something along the premise that there is little better than being spoiled for choice. xx

Oh wow Paul!! That is excellent and highly desirable news re: open-tender victory. I hope it goes very very smoothly.

Harlan Coben, eh? iiinteresting....

Hey, Paul, could you give me my post count for 2012 and 2013 if they are easily come by? I'm curious.

BTW, Paul, I reviewed View with a Grain of Sand. I thought it was a standout. Thanks again for recommending it.

I love Harlan Coben and the poppy field on top!!

Just catching my breath! Wow, new thread !

Paul, congrats on your new thread. I love the picture of the red poppies and I'm a huge fan of Harlan Coben.

*waves* Nice book haul, Paul. . Great to hear about your construction business, that is quite the accomplishment.

Well done on the latest construction contract! You are obviously a very good manager to bring a company around that quickly.

Love the field of poppies image from up top. Do you plan on visiting Washington DC while you are in the states? The war memorials there are very powerful.

Hello and Happy New Thread to my favourite statistician! How thrilling that my 16 from January put me in the top 10 (alphabetical order by given name helping too of course!)

I think I'll have to juggle things around a little this month so I can share a few more reads with you;

I had already planned As I Lay Dying
Am very tempted to join your for Rogue Male (I'll add it to the TIOLI wiki after you, as with all the others when you alert me)
Can You Forgive Her? - I got this at the very end of the year after seeing Heather's glowing review, so I'm in!
The Guns of August - well, as you chose it for me, it's sort of a must, right? ;-)

Also:
Fools of Fortune - just got the audiobook which was already on my WL, but your review made it a MUST.
The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith - got the free Kindle, depending on if I can fit it in.

Finally, a little spot of advertising on THE most popular thread of LT:

I've just added a TIOLI challenge of my own this month (I posted the following on the TIOLI thread):

Challenge #23: Read a book about an animal whose life is affected by war.

I'll be going to see the National Theatre Live production of War Horse* based on the book by Michael Morpurgo on February 27th, giving me the perfect excuse to reread this, one of my all-time favourite books. This will also fit into my plan to read about WWI this year.

I suppose you could stretch things a little and include books which don't have animals as primary characters, but they must be a significant part of the story and mention must be made about how the war has played a role in their life.

Another book I can think of on the spur of the moment which would fit into this challenge, also by Morpurgo, is An Elephant in the Garden, which I heartily recommend. I'm sure there are plenty more.

* From the NTL site:



"National Theatre Live will broadcast War Horse live from London’s West End to cinemas around the world on February 27, 2014.

Since its first performance at the National Theatre in 2007, War Horse has become an international smash hit.

Based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel and adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford, War Horse takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France. Filled with stirring music and songs, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing lifesized puppets by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage."

Hej Paul, I was trying to play on words because when open your new thread the poppies popped up ... excuse my English, I will be a bit more careful when something pops up in my head (reminds me of popcorn, I better go and get something to eat)

Amusing myself trying to compute the number of books purchased by days in the year thus far, and am coming up with a ratio of nearly 3 to 1... *grin*

Afternoon sweetness, lovely new thread you got here. I really like your thread topper. The horse contraptions for the play were ingenious, very cool if I do say so myself.

Hi Paul, congratulations on your 10th thread It just goes to show what an interesting man you are! I am enjoying your focus on World War I this year, it's vivid writing and poetry I think is a product of a generation of young men who had no idea of what they were marching off to. They went expecting glory and instead found bloodshed and carnage.

Paul - Congrats on the win! I know what that's like... :)

Chillingly evocative photo and poem toppers, Paul. Congrats on your latest thread!

Hi Paul,

Just dropping by to say hello, I hope you're well, and that I very much enjoyed Restoration! I just finished it this evening. It was very rich and unpredictable, and I feel it will stay with me for a long time. Thank you very much - great choice for me!

Congratulations on your successful business bid. Always nice to be successful.

Thanks RD; When I took over the company it was down to two employees and with two other shareholders. The employees had not received salary or social security contributions for three months. I put the two staff on my existing companies payroll until the construction company could afford them again and settled their back pay. Those two staff have now been rewarded for their loyalty and suffering by the company being relatively stable again and we are now recruiting. So I am quite happy all told.

Morphy - No problem my dear:
2012 - 1,567 posts
2013 - 2,377 posts
2014 to date - 402 posts

Joe - I am not a one for poetry in translation but she did win the Nobel and at times it is plain to see why.

Connie - Thank you. I haven't read anything by Harlen Coben who is my sisters favourite writer.

Barbara - Coben does seem popular in Europe. I noticed that my sisters bookcase is full of his books.

Tam - Getting the job is one thing but executing it quite another! Still we'll do our best. I have one of my right hand men going to Labuan today to check the site for a Helicopter Hangar project I agreed last week. My staff gave me a strange look yesterday (we'll design and build the project and the Project Management company will support the construction company receiving fees from doing so) as if to say "enough already, we have enough to do"

Heidi - Actually my lawyer is to thank for the ease of turn around. He spotted the possibility as one of his clients had started an action against the company and it had no legal representation to defend itself. They negotiated a settlement to which I was a party and in discussions it became apparent that they had their own recovery problems. When they offered us a majority stake in the company we did due diligence and found that potential receivables far outweighed liabilities if strategised properly and made the deal for the price offered a no brainer.
I don't think we'll make it to DC but you never know.

Ilana - That is a lot of sharing my dear! I will look to see if I can fit something in for your TIOLI. Michael Morpurgo normally has something to fit most things!

Just a few comments:

About the Poppies: As you enter the National World War I Museum in Kansas City MO (a marvelous place), you walk on a glass floor and beneath it are 9,000 poppies, one for every 1,000 deaths in WWI. So touching.

About War Horse: The book was okay, but the play was unbelievable. Amazing puppetry, and an atmosphere that puts you right in the middle of it all.

And finally: Hi, Paul! Hope you and yours are doing well!

Paul,
Love the pictures of the poppies.

I have a book of Robert Frost poems that I am going to offload. Would be happy to send it to you if you like. It's You Come Too.

Paul - Hahaha english is a good language for playing with words like that isn't it?

Suz - Actually not so different to what I did last year. So much for cutting down. If I could read anywhere near your pace at least the TBR pile wouldn't accumulate quite so alarmingly.

Abby - I really liked the Spielberg movie of War Horse even if it was a little saccharine sweet. I would imagne the play is hard to realise so I would like to see it and find out.

Judy - There is a discernible mood swing in the poems written after say 1915. Binyon and Brooke were among those going off to war in a spirit of adventure and those that survived had their high expectations shattered amid the grim reality of modern warfare.

Jim - It was one I didn't expect in truth as strong political connections are normally required to lobby for these government type tenders. I have a friend who I helped a few years ago when his son died of meningitis and he was down on his luck. He has contacts in the Jabatan Paritan dan Saluran (Department of Sewerage and Drainage) and he used these to our advantage. He will be appointed as Project Director for the job with some profit share. I remember him crying in my office a couple of years ago and the big smile on his face yesterday was almost reward enough.

Thanks Mary. The First World War is such a fertile ground for superb writing isn't it?

Orlaith - My you read it quickly! So pleased that you liked it. I am a big fan of Rose Tremain and I read it maybe 19 years ago and remembered liking it.

Benita - Thanks and doubly so when you don't really expect it.

Terri - Is there any particular reason that the US sited the War Museum in Kansas City? Sounds like somewhere I should visit. I do very much want to see War Horse at the theatre.

Stephanie - I have to say that I would give my right arm (well a chunk of flesh from it at least) for that book by Frost. Very difficult to find nowadays - from 1959, if I am not mistaken. Thank you ever so much. xx

#65 Paul
You don't have to maim yourself for it. It's happily given. Once I dig it out again, I'll send it along.

Stephanie. :D xxxx

Lovely new thread, my dear. Congratulations on getting the contract.

I've been told I share too much before. Especially when I was a full-time blogger and some family members were terrified I'd mention them. :-)

Hi Paul- Congrats on the Titanic Ten! Love the poppy topper. Thanks for the Trollope info. I am really enjoying my first foray into this classic English author.

Nice to see a mention of Moonfleet - your planned re-read for Feb; that was one of my many childhood favourites.

Happy New Thread! I'm never here this early! Yay!

Love the new thread topper! :)

Roni - Thanks my dear. Feist so far on point. So much entused that I bought Legend by David Gemmell yesterday too.

Ilana - No one more sharing in a confessional sense than I. A privilege to share reads with one of my favourite ladies.

Mark - The Warden is a good place to start as it is mercifully shorter than some of his other stuff. A great technician and wonderful at building a story but, sometimes far too slowly, for my own tastes.

Genny - I really ought to revisit some of my favourites this year and Moonfleet is one that I read aeons ago. Probably my favourite childhood read.

Tina - Well after pulling your leg about new threads I'm not surprised you were watching for me! xx

Speaking of confessionals, I just posted a major one on Suz's thread. Too much?

Trollope too slow...from a reader of the molasses-paced Chuckles the Dick...clearly the tropics have softened Paul's brain...

I was hoping the length of the Warden, was his usual style, a nice antidote to Mr. Windy Dickens.
Speaking of English classics, I have to get to Middlemarch this year. I have put it off, long enough.

Now you all have me reciting, "In Flanders Field, the poppies blow..."

Hey handsome! Love the thread topper - and the poem. Never knew who that 'bit' was by - though it is recited at every Anzac Day ceremony. Great clutch of new acquisitions, too.

Ilana - I am very, very intrigued. Will go visit Suz anon.

RD - I agree that CD can be syrupy sweet and verbose in his lesser works but the plotting and characterisation of Great Expectation, A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield are highpoints of the english novel. Trollope for all his pondersome and wry brilliance doesn't get close to those heights in my reading of him thus far. Agree also on the tropics addling my brain though.

Mark - He has written some real monsters in terms of length. They are very, very studied and excellent in their way.

Lori - John McCrae is less famous than his poem deserves him to be. Died of pneumonia with the job near done in 1918.



Prue - Hello back gorgeous! Laurence Binyon is another whose work has outlived his reputation which I find strange. Apart from "For the Fallen" he also wrote the famous "Burning of the Leaves"

War Horse in the theater sounds like it could be very good.

>81 PaulCranswick:: Oh, that's just lovely. Sad and beautiful.

I was going to use it for a later thread topper, Amber, but since Lori brought it up I couldn't resist it. Canada also had its share of excellent scribblers during the war.

>50 Smiler69:, et al: After the jaw-dropping amazingness that was the National Theatre's presentation of Coriolanus, my mother and I are also planning to see War Horse as well. I'd had no interest in it until I realized the calibre of production they put on. I suspect I'll go see the other few live broadcasts (King Lear, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime) left in the season, too!

Just checking in ... I'm happy to see that your friend has something good happening in his life.. you are a good friend and that is very clear.

Faith - I am quite a passionate follower of the theatre and when in the UK I usually try to catch at least one show. Occasionally travelling shows arrive here but it isn't quite the same somehow. If you auditioned for a role in that belly dancing outfit of yours I am sure we would all be corresponding with a leading lady by now!

Kath - We have been told by the Department of Drains and Sewers (charming name right?) to keep tight-lipped about the job to stop other parties trying to put the proverbial spoke in the wheel (my buddies here don't count of course) and I have told Zul (my friend) to keep a low profile in the meantime.
Pray for us please that there is no slip twixt cup and lip. xx

Congrats on your 9th thread, Paul! Lovely idea to post the poppy field. Also, Binyon's poem for the fallen is a lovely tribute. You really are immersed in WWI and I think you need to add some lighter books to your current reads.

Signed, concerned follower xx

Lynda - Am I becoming too serious? Is WWI getting a bit unremitting? OK I'll pass this one on to SWMBO and see if it results in my getting a black eye or not.

*snorkilicious*

Lynda - Apparently I am competent at the latter but SWMBO is a dab hand at the former!

*waves* Just passin' through...

Just checking in. Things seem to be proceeding at their usual breakneck pace here.

BTW - there's a typo in the graphic of the McRae poem. I believe it should read "If ye break faith....."

I cut my teeth on the McRae poem. So to speak. Certainly, it was the first I learned tied to WW1, thanks to my grandparents.

It is, though, a reminder that a relatively romantic view of war didn't die on Skyros with Rupert Brooke.

Congratulations and "well done" on the business successes.

I'm going to have to see if War Horse is going to be broadcast here. Thanks for the tip.

I am sure I have missed several threads while I was away and am just going to start from here!

Linda - Waving back. Nothing to report on Faulkner yet my dear, good or bad, don't worry.

Katie - Well spotted; there is indeed a mistake in the graphic which I didn't see either. Not my graphic but it is a bit sloppy having gone to the trouble of super-imposing it on his picture.

Granted Suz there is still a romanticism at play in the poem but even in 1915 that romanticism has a wistfulness about it that is not in Brooke wouldn't you say?

Reba - Thank you my dear. Yesterday I was full of the joys of the promised project today I am slightly paranoid that politics may yet surface to rob us of it until the letter is out to formalise the contract award. My fingers and toes are crossed.

Rebecca - As good a place as any to jump in where you will. xx

Adding my congrats on the contract winning - a little late but I blinked and missed a thread...

I too add my (cautious) congrats with fingers, toes and eyes crossed that it comes through as planned.

ETA that In Flanders Field never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

Paul, just wanted to let you know I've just listed The Guns of August under challenge #20 on TIOLI.

I have ten Coben's on my bookshelf the result of a Book People UK purchase.

I have 24 Coben's on my shelves, all read!

Hi Paul!!

Just dipping the virtual toe in ...

Congrats on the new thread AND the successful bid.

Did you find out what Belle wanted, in the end?

Congrats on the bid, and best of luck with the contract.

And … you're enjoying reading Fantasy? ?!!!?? (See, I told you!)

Bekka - Hahaha, It's not going that quickly!

Mary - Thank you. We have been told that we will receive formal notification next week.

Ilana - I must go and check out the TIOLI over at the thread there as I haven't done so yet this month.

John - I know that there are plenty of Coben's on my Kindle but I haven't checked or catalogued them yet.

Connie - So you don't like Harlan Coben then?!

Marianne - Thanks, so far we have been quite lucky with the construction company.

Nina - Yes, she presented me with a list of "scholastic books" in a catalogue provided by her school - it is mainly teen-fiction stuff - she let me know that she simply must have about 20 of the titles there! I am indeed enjoying Raymond E. Feist; it won't be the last thing in the genre I read this year.

107 "....she simply must have about 20 of the titles there! " .... Hahaha

Alex - Yep, she is a daddy's girl ok.

>107 PaulCranswick:: No I hate him!

Waving hello! Hope you have a great weekend. Sounds like you've had a successful week and can put your feet up for a day or two.

Like father, like daughter :-)

"...she simply must have about 20 of the titles..."

Yep, sounds about right.

Gee, I wonder where she gets it from ...

If you had done nothing else in your life, Paul, (and obviously you have done a great deal), at least you've seeded the next generation of readers!

I see Paul looking through Belle's catalogue and deciding that she needs not only the 20 that she chose, but an additional 5 or so that he would like her to read as well! ;)

Congrats on reaching thread number 10. Just looking for inspiration on what to put on my thread.

#115 Snarf - that was my mental image as well...Paul sitting there perusing... then buying half the catalogue ;)

Connie :D

Jenn - Nice to see you settling in nicely in Wellington and that school seems to suit too despite the old fashioned uniforms.

Diana - She is running a slight fever today and this allied to the fact that she wants me to sign the book order form allowed me to get a cuddle this evening after coming back from my meeting!

Amber - She is also quite crafty as we say in Northern England as I noticed she has added another 14 titles to the list whilst I was out at work. Disturbingly she seems very interested in books that have series and she has my unfortunate habit of insisting to read them only in order.

I get so excited when Charlie brings home the Scholastic catalog each month. And I don't have to feel guilty ordering from them, since each order means more money for the teachers to spend on classroom books.

Julia - The two girls are avid readers and Kyran loves his mangga so I guess I haven't done too badly with them. Yasmyne had good news yesterday as she took two examinations late last year for Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language) and Islamic Studies at GCSE O Level and received A* grades in both. In the latter she received the highest marks in International Schools in Malaysia for the year and she is to receive a special award as a result. For me her achievement is doubly good when I consider that her skeptical views on religion mirror my own. She called me at work to give me the news (which is unusual) and so I wasn't especially surprised when she immediately followed it up with a request for her to go and get hair treatment at $200 a go. My complaint that my own hair cutting costs me a mere $3 didn't get me very far at all.

Judy - Well she didn't leave me too much room in truth adding another bunch of books when she thought I wasn't looking. I did add one to her list though as I noticed that there was one book in a series she was following that she hadn't seen.

Rosalind - Most important is to put yourself there. I found when I joined LT a little over three years ago that my tentative visits to the threads of some of the more established members of the group were normally treated and received in a very friendly and open manner. You get recognised and it is natural for those you visit to want to go and look you up. You of course have a natural disadvantage being an Arsenal supporter but I, for one, will give you the benefit of the doubt; hehehehe. xx

Bekka - Well almost. There are 96 books on the catalogue and she now has 35 of them ordered. Looking at the list she already owns 19 of the books so in reality more than half the catalogue will eventually be in her possession.

Amber - That is great. I didn't realise that it helps the schools get more books too so that is even better. Actually buying books for the kids salves my own conscience about getting so many for myself.

15.

Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan

Date of Publication: 2009 (15/150)
American State: N/A
Category Challenge : New to me authors

This was a gift from Jean as part of the wonderful Xmas Swap that the group did this year.

Spare prose from this South African debutant with very much a nod and a glance to luminaries such as Coetzee and Galgut in style, this novel commences with our protagonist recovering from a car accident which has claimed the lives of his wife and daughter.

As he tries to pick up the pieces of his life he reflects on the state of his relationship with his wife prior to the accident, the details of which he cannot recollect. His sister lends him her holiday home in a quiet coastal retreat where he comes face to face with people whose lives have been just as devastated as his own.

Well plotted, if a little abruptly ended and very powerfully written. I would surmise that we will hear much, much more from this writer.

8/10

Pages this Book : 179
Pages in completed books in 2014 : 3,285

Revised Physical TBR: 2,763 books

That one sounds interesting, Paul! Onto the wishlist ...

Fun to find a strong debut, isn't it?

Julia - I had it on my wishlist and I cannot remember what prompted me to do so, but I am glad I did and glad that Jean (majkia) spotted and acted on it being there.

RD - Speaking of which isn't it funny how so many authors can never beat their debuts? Doris Lessing, Harper Lee, JD Salinger, etc, etc

So many one-hit wonders in the world, for true. But we keep looking for the exceptions. I hope Madeline Miller of The Song of Achilles fame won't be a one-hit wonder.

Just a quick wave across the world to you!
Chances are I won't catch you again til your next thread with the rate you are going and the rate I am going.

Happy weekend to you and your lovely family!

RD - It will be interesting to see what she does next I must say. There are also a few examples such as Graham Greene and Stephen King whose first novels bombed utterly but they came back from the experience.

Cee - Slow and steady normally wins the race as they say. Two years ago your thread was in the top ten most active. Last year in the top twenty most active and this year so far close to the top thirty most active. There is a trend there but your thread remains a must visit for me and is as lively and entertaining as it always was. I have a half-busy Friday ahead and I am considering whether or not I should have a mini-splurge at lunch time or not.

Update on the Tread Posting League;

Top 50 as of a couple of minutes ago:

1 Paul C 2501
2 Richard 2057
3 Amber 1452
4 Mamie 1268
5 Joe 1165
6 Mark 1073
7 Julia 983
8 Diana 895
9 Ellen 815
10 Katie 677
11 Suz 606
12 Darryl 572
13 Kath 509
14 Rhian 464
15 Megan 460
16 Tina 451
17 Linda (Wh) 429
18 Morphy 420
19 Marianne 417
20 Roni 415
21 Caro 408
22 Roberta 406
23 Abby 405
24 Kerri 404
25 Terri T 363
26 Bonnie 344
27 Nora 331
28 Liz 323
29 Lori T 321
30 Donna 320
31 Lucy 320
32 Jim 317
33 Ape 312
34 Cee 309
35 Jeff 304
36 Mary S 298
37 Barbara 282
38 Micky 278
39 Stephanie 276
40 Pat 272
41 Linda (Lay) 267
42 Lynda 264
43 Connie 262
44 Carrie 256
45 Ilana 254
46 Judy (DQ) 254
47 Tam 251
48 Amy 250
49 Faith 249
50 John 249

Amber - Would have thought Paul had pretty much explored every excuse under the son to get more books. Buying books means more books for schools? Who knew he didn't have that one covered already?

So right about some people failing to exceed expectations from their debut.

Speaking of J. D. Salinger, I have on DVR the recent documentary. Has anyone watched it? Any good?

Six threads over 1000, two of those over 2000...wowee toledo.

Marianne: I know, right?!

Analysis of present top 50 threads (posting numbers)

By Gender
Male : 9
Female : 41

By Residence
USA : 38
Canada : 4
Holland : 2
UK : 2
Malaysia : 1
NZ : 1
Australia : 1
Switzerland : 1

Canadian Battle Royal

1 Micky 278
2 Ilana 254
Judy 254
4 Faith 249
5 Lori 211

Battle of the Rookies
1 Marianne 417
2 Abby 405
3 Barbara 282
4 Connie 262
5 Juli (SuziQ) 134
6 Megan (Evilmoose) 101

Fun stats!

Marianne - We are never too old to learn new tricks. Sophomore Stinkers? Maybe The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (although to be fair her third novel is getting a few accolades).

RD - As of 13 February 2013 there were 5 over 1000; these five have done it again already plus the resurgent Ms. Scaife. I reckon Julia is a sure thing (probably should rephrase that) and last year she wasn't top 40 at that stage. Diana and Ellen will be close too. Stellar.
You have 240 posts more than where you were on 13 Feb last year and that is more than a week away for a like on like comparison.

Amber - Pot. Kettle & very, very Black.

Mary - Your own numbers continue very strongly this year too. In the whole of last year your threads got 360 posts and I reckon you zip past that this month easily.

Wow, I made the top 50 again*, there's hope for me yet! :-)

eta: * probably only because I post on my own thread so much!

It has been surprising, Paul! Gratifying, but surprising.

120: Congrats to your daughter for the award! Man, had my dad fronted $200 for hair treatments I would have done much better in school. ;)

Ilana - I see a resurgence of our Canadian clan imminently.

Mary - The group is strange we don't seem to do a heck of a lot differently but suddenly people take notice or not.

Marie - Hahaha, I like that. She hasn't got the dosh yet and I'll keep her on tenterhooks for a little while yet.

Oh man, I can't believe that I forgot to add a congrats to Yasmyne earlier! That's really wonderful and you must be bursting with pride. Good on her!

Wonderful news about Yasmyne. Nothing like a child's success to burst a parent's buttons. You must be quite proud of your family, Paul. I'm so glad for you...bask in the pleasure...

>120 PaulCranswick:: Wow! Congratulations to Yasmyne!

>107 PaulCranswick:: she simply must have about 20 of the titles there!. That's the problem with the Scholastic catalogues - too much choice.

I am indeed enjoying Raymond E. Feist; it won't be the last thing in the genre I read this year. *faints*

#120> And a "well done, you" to Yasmyne for her scholastic achievements. Beauty and brains — you'd better watch out, Paul. :-)

#136> Number 7! I just can't even wrap my head around that. I don't think I had four threads all of last year.

Thanks Amber - The only downside for her is that she will be required to wear a head-scarf for the prize-giving. There may be some stamping of feet at this I suspect.

Gail - I am a proud Dad. Hani and I are blessed with three very different but all quite gifted kids. Yasmyne: studious and with her mum's genes physically; Kyran: Artistic and articulate; Belle: Stubborn and organised. Dad the laissez-faire, arm-round-the-shoulders parent; Mother: the steely driver of the family train.

Nina - I thought my comments on the fantasy book would raise your eyebrow(s). xx

Julia - I am already in trouble, believe me, my dear. I promised no more remarks about you slowing down. So there.

#146> I think we've both called a truce, as you notice I am no longer making bold claims about when I think the slowing down will start. Mind you, I still think it will happen sometime, but apparently not today anyway.:-)

I sometimes miss the higher activity of prior years on my own thread a little. However, it's been a rough year+ for me and the slower trend has been purposeful. I just can't keep up and have to realize my limitations.

Still having fun lurking and visiting others :-) I'm actually surprised so many wonderful LT friends still visit me as much as they do... including you as busy as you are!

Congrats to your daughter for her high accomplishments!

Catching up, Mr. Statmeister! Thank you, again for your dutiful efforts!! :)

Whew! I already liked your post on fb, but congrats for Miss Yasmyne getting good marks! :) And I'm in the top 50??? yay!

#151 Humoress
oh now that's epically funny!

Julia - When we meet up as we hopefully shall later in the year we must smoke a pipe of peace. xx
btw I don't think you'll slow down this side of the solstice.

Cee - I'll always be a frequent visitor to my virtual retreat in coastal Maine, no frosted glazing in the bathroom notwithstanding.

You are welcome Tina - see what a spike to your numbers you get by making a new thread!

Yikes Tam I haven't seen my post on FB as it will have been put there by SWMBO! I must go and have a look!

Nina - That one has been on the TV often in Malaysia - but why would you buy chocolate by watching that I have absolutely no idea.

Stephanie - There is of course the answer to the advert by Lily Allen and Allan Carr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWEOHd9JNmk

Wow, Paul! Thanks for those stats :-D

Congrats to Yasmyne, Paul. We've got all that to come with J: German next year and all the rest the year after.

Huge congratulations to Yasmyne! Very impressive results. I expect the hair treatment was well earned. :)

Thanks for the stats, Paul! Congratulations to Yasmyne for her impressive results.

Cadbury eyebrows and a Lily Allen response! THAT's the way to start off a Friday! Thanks for the smile.

Congratulations, Yasmyne! Making Daddy proud is some kind of motivator, as I recall!

Morning Paul! Fun stats as always. Congrats to Yasmyne! That is soooo great!

Barbara - You may have noticed that there are six "rookies" with over 100 posts this year already which I believe is more than last year.

Rhian - I am sure that J will do fine. We are going down to Johor Bahru this weekend as it is Hani's father's 70th birthday this coming week. Gran and Grandpa will certainly be proud that Yasmyne passed the Islamic Studies course with such flying colours as they always intimate that my secularist methods are going to land the kids in difficulties; they can say what they like; Yasmyne understands all of it even if she only agrees with a little of it.

Jenn - She still hasn't had the hair treatment and I got very entreating looks from my eldest daughter upon my return this evening.

Diana - You are welcome and thank you my dear.

>151 humouress: That is just odd. Must be a British commercial.

Congrats to Yasmyne!

Whoo hoo! I finally made it into the top 20!

And thanks for the numbers. In 2012, I had 30 posts a week. In 2013, 45 posts a week. In 2014 so far, 80 posts a week! I know that will slow down, but it's a great start.

Marianne - My body is not in the least bit flexible when it comes to eyebrows, rolling of tongues etc etc. Belle on the other hand has extremely expressive eyebrows which are usually arched in my direction.

Linda - I think the kids used to get irritated when we used to play History or Geography general knowledge quizzes everytime we went anywhere until they would memorize things just to stop me whinging. Hani on the other hand revels in such games with her hand shooting up when questions are asked as if she was back in class and I was her favourite tutor. Probably why I married her!

Abby - You have stayed in and around the same position irrespective of being laid low with illness or the arrival and/or secretion of Mercy the cat. xx

It is odd, I agree Morphy. Weird bodily functions and the British are comedy bedfellows. Your posting figures reflect the realisation that there is way more than prodigious reading going on in the Twin Cities!
You will also note that I am enjoying Raymond E. Feist thankyou and you may want to take note of the next post which includes a couple of new Sci-fi/Fantasy additions.

I have a weekend in Johor Bahru (which I never look forward to - no airconditioning, sleeping on the floor with no mattress, little internet connectivity) so I needed to treat myself at lunchtime:

89. At Least We Can Apologize by Lee Ki Ho (2009) 185 pp
Another in the Dalkey Library of Korean Literature
90. Tenth of December by George Saunders (2013) 272 pp
My first short-story collection by the well-regarded American
91. All That Is by James Salter (2013) 290 pp
Richard Ford's favourite novel of last year.
92. The Shining by Stephen King (1977) 497 pp
Well it was a mere matter of time really wasn't it?
93. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (2010) 388 pp
A quirky love story based upon a love of books seems right for here
94. The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry (2005) 357 pp
Amber's pal gets nifty with the 'poultry'.
95. Yarrow by Charles de Lint (1986) 255 pp
Canadian fantasy which includes a naked-ish image on the cover
96. Real Britannia by Colin Brown (2012) 299 pp
Now known as "Glory and B*llocks" - the old title reeks more of academia
97. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross (2001) 317 pp
A sort of James Bond meets Mr. Bean meets the Men in Black
98. The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams (1988) 930 pp
Memory, Sword and Thorn Series starts here - "The War & Peace of Fantasy"

Books in 2014 : 98

Pages in Total in 2014 : 33,534

Revised TBR : 2,773

Good on Yasmyne!!!! I know you are proud of them all.... but I think the hair treatment, whatever it was... was a worthy recognition, if it's what she wanted :)

I know that you are beaming over Yasmyne's achievements - very impressive!! And congrats to you on the business transaction - we know where Belle gets her successful negotiation tactics from! Loved looking over the stats and your most recent book haul, so thanks for sharing. Wishing for you a weekend filled with fabulous!

Congratulations to Yasmine!

And, Wow I'm # 43 in the list.

Prediction: Paul's purchases will top 150 by 28 Feb.

Yes, I did see and was going to comment on that you were enjoyed the Feist! I simply forgot. Do a lot of that lately!

I saw the fantasy books. None I'd really recommend though except the King which is horror.

Congrats to Yasmyne! That's a fantastic accomplishment and well worth some special treat. Well played by her really, to ask Dad when telling him the big news. She is one smart cookie!

I am happy to see yet another Stephen King in your latest books acquired list. Soon your King collection will rival my own. Here's an old picture of my Stephen King shelves, the two on the right....there are more on there now! LOL

I see you have purchased Major Pettigrew's last Stand, I read this two years ago and absolutely loved it and thought it would make a lovely film. Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you thought of it mate.

Congratulations to Yasmyne!! Too bad about the headscarf, but I suppose it will build character.

Wow, look at those fantasy purchases! You may enjoy The Atrocity Archives more than I--that dry British wit, but I thought he could have done more with the characters. On the other hand, The Dragonbone Chair is an excellent traditional epic fantasy (the first quarter of one, at least ;-D). And I don't remember that deLint, but in general he is good. I don't read horror so can't comment on the Stephen King.

Charles Stross is not always the easiest of reads, dare I say it a very British writer, but think you should try Glasshouse ......

Loved, loved, loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and hope you do too, Paul, but am afraid that at the present moment The Dragonbone Chair is sitting in the donation bag.

Congrats to your beautiful Yasmyne. Very impressive.

Count me in with a thumb's up for Major Pettigrew!

#154 Paul,
Hah! Equally as funny. Thanks!

Kath - Don't worry she'll get what she wants ~ they always do!

Mamie - It would be a lesser world without your weekends of fabulous. xx
Your comments on negotiation made me smile; sometimes it is not particularly that my skills are good but that others are bad. We have a project on the island of Labuan building a helicopter hangar for an American oil company. We were called in because they have switched sites and thought that the new site would save them some money. We finished the negotiations with 5% addition to the costs!

Connie - 43 and rising my dear considering you started later than almost everyone else.

RD - I don't think so dear fellow. 120 possibly.

Morphy - I thought you might have liked Tad Williams. The book is a real chunkster so if I have not picked wisely, I am in for some real drudgery.

Heidi - my eyes were taken of course with the socks. Please tell me it was a christmas photo and you are not wearing those things the year round!

John - It is interesting that books made in North America and those manufactured in the UK are sold here at radically different prices. 1 GBP = RM5 approximately. A book manufactured in UK will retail here at RM32-RM45 whilst an American book will retail at RM52-64. Not sure why. There was a newly released American version of the book in the display shelves for RM56 with 20% discount. So I could buy it for RM44.80. I have 10% store discount as standard anyway. So I looked below in the Lit shelves and found a UK copy retailing at RM35 which after discount becomes RM31.50 (RM13.30 or about GBP2.60 cheaper). As a fellow Yorkshireman you know which version I bought.

Rhonda - I have a feeling that she will rebel as she told me yesterday that there is nothing in the regulations to compel her to wear it for the prize-giving. I am of a mind to seek her to compromise as knowing the authorities here they will forfeit her prize.

>166 PaulCranswick:: Oho, I don't have that particular Fry volume yet, but it's on the wishlist for certain.

Roni - Changed man huh? Well, not really but it does give a little balance.

Alex - The blurb of the Charles Stross got me. Let's see.

Charlotte - Hahaha If only I'd known sooner I could have popped round and you could have donated it to moi.

Marianne - Major Pettigrew is going to go on parade sooner than I anticipated yesterday if it is so worth reading.

Stephanie - That show does have its moments. Allan Carr is so delightfully camp and Lilly Allen has a lot of her father's joie de vivre.

Amber, I nearly always buy something poetry related when I visit Kino. There was a fantastic hardcover anthology of 20th centruty poetry which tempted me but at $40 it was hard to justify. Pound's Cantos ditto really at over $30. There was also a Simon Armitage translation of The Death of King Arthur which I will buy shortly but that was a tad expensive too.
I have a soft spot for Stephen Fry too all joking to one side. Someone with his tremendous wit, intelligence and erudition is rare to see. The fact that he is an accomplished scribbler is more grist to his mill as far as I am concerned.

Hi Paul. Just trying to catch up. A big congratulations to Yasmyne. That sounds like quite an accomplishment. Hope your weekend goes well!

*peeks in*

Thanks Pat - Will be hitting the road for a four hour drive to JB soon. Have to go and pay Hani's mobile phone first. The place is next to the bookstore. I may add a couple to get to the round 100 by the weekend. xx

So paid the bill and added the following pair to bring up nice and round numbers:

99. Longbourn by Jo Baker (2013) 446 pp
Servants eye-view of Pride & Prejudice, much loved in the group.
100. The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green (1956) 295 pp
Another buy for re-reading of my childhood - sure sign of ageing!

Physical books in 2014 : 100
Pages in total in 2014 : 34,275

Revised TBR : 2,775

Am I reading correctly? Did you add 100 books to your collection thus far in 2014! All I can say is Way to go!!!!

ooooo Longbourn! I loved that book :)

I also love Steven Fry and will watch anything he's involved in like QI or Last Chance to See. I have bought his fiction and his autobiographies but of course they are in the TBR pile and not actually read. Great entertainer but also fascinating imo.

I loved The Dragonbone Chair and the rest of the series. But if I remember rightly it does start pretty slowly so you've got to give it a bit of time to get going.

100 books bought in 2014. That leaves me flabbergasted.

Good Morning, Paul! (or rather good afternoon). I hope you will have a lovely weekend.

Paul, thanks a lot for your help. I wish you a lovely weekend

I hope you know that the thought of you in the KL sun gives me hope that it will return to PA someday. The hope is getting more faint every day. Especially after seeing the article about the sun being in a "lull". Yikes!

I will add my name to the list of well wishers on Yasmyne's success, $200 is a small price to pay for such achievements, I would say :)

I quite liked The Atrocity Archives when I read it, very different and quite entertaining.

I am also happy to note the inclusion of The Shining in your list, may you enjoy it as much as we all did.

"The War and Peace of fantasy". Yep, that's Tad Wiiliams alright. I loved The Dragonbone Chair, but folks are right. It develops a bit slowly at the start like a savory stew.

I'm another one who loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Paul. My favorite book that year. Fingers crossed you enjoy Longbourn, too.

Have a lovely weekend in JB, Paul. xx

What's going on at Leeds, Paul? Sack manager, re-employ manager and another crook takes over.

Congrtulate Yasmyne for me!

Canadian Battle Royale really made me laugh!

Good, um, Sunday morning (?), Paul. Nice to see that someone buys more books than myself. I did have a sudden realization, helped by Kath, that my kids don't need to be trying to sort my books when I pass on, so have cut back on the buying and forged ahead on the removal system. There's always the library, if need be.

So, I've been reading Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series, which are centered on Yorkshire, and have quite a few questions on slang phrases. It's occurred to me that they may be (somewhat) obscene in meaning, so I think I'll leave a message on your homepage instead of asking here.

Sleeping on the floor?? Surely that's a bit extreme.

120...ummm ya know I'll stick with my prediction of 150 books added by 28 Feb, of ya don't mind. *smirks in anticipation of being closer to right than a paltry 20 more books in 19 days*

Fascinating thread, as always, Paul.

Hope you are having the fabulous weekend that Mamie wished you, Paul. You are a book buying inspiration and your far superior numbers make my purchases seem paltry in comparison!

Paul> Hope your weekend is going well. I think you are definitely on track for another 1000 this year.

I'm not usually a sports nut but I am happy the winter Olympics has started. I love love love all those men in tights! How about that Dutch Sweep in the Men's 5,000 meters skate race? That was great stuff. So tonight I I plan on a winter sports feast.

Everybody I know who has read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand has loved it. You probably need to move that one high up on your list.

I am reading a fun steampunk novel Soulless. It is short and sassy and just the medicine I need for these February evenings.

Hi Paul, I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Paul, I hope your sleep on the floor wasn't too rough.

Just checking in, Paul. Hope things are going well with you and yours.

Linda - To be absolutely accurate it is just over three weeks because I didn't add anything at all in the first two weeks of the year. Well behind last years totals of course; not that that says anything very much.

Lisa - Stephen Fry certainly has his admirers in the group I must say. He reminds me so much of a modern day Oscar Wilde.

Rhian - I don't think I would expect it to start at breakneck pace spread out as it is over 900 + pages. I have finished and really enjoyed the first book in the Rift War Saga by Raymond E Feist and that kept up a cracking pace throughout.

Thanks Connie but 100 books by February is fairly commonplace in these parts I have to say. Other hefty purchasers of books traditionally would be Katie (Krug), Paul Stalder, Luci (although you need to see her profile page to glean this) and Linda (Whisper1).

Barbara I am a constant user of the threadbook page that Jim set up as it is a wonderful resource to keep all my friends in view and I spotted your link issues early. I try not to edit the wiki just in case I make a mistake and undo some of Jim's sterling work.

Kath - If the sun takes a nap I think my place is going to get pretty crowded! You'll be welcome of course my dear. xx

Well Yasmyne has the hair-do thanks Piyush and nice to see you here. I think I will play safe and read all the major Stephen King books in publication order.

Jim - Quite right; savoury stews are best when kept for a few days and all the flavours are allowed to meld together and harmonise. I'll bear it in mind with Mr. Williams.

So will there be photos of Yasmyne and her lovely locks? And perhaps her loving dad? And a book or two?

I know, Paul. I think you all are absolutely crazy (in a good way)

Hi Paul- Just buzzing through! Hope you are having a fine weekend, mate and getting some prime reading in.

Joe - I think both of those two are fairly safe buys. Can't remember a bad review for either book.

Diana - Well it was a tiring one anyways. I am of course back (no internet in JB at my in-laws) with eight hours of driving in total and sleep on the floor woke me up with a Richard-like back this morning. In-laws microwave and washing machine both broken so Hani replaced both (wished she looked after me so promptly hahaha) and we had a lovely meal last night at a seafood restaurant overlooking the Singapore Straits.
Yee Sang with salmon
Curried prawns with pao
Kankung Belacan (water spinach cooked in spicy shrimp paste)
Kailan with garlic
Steamed Sea Bass Hong Kong Style
Fried Sea Bass "Tiga Rasa" (literally three flavours - spicy, sweet, sour)
Squid in oatmeal
Scallops with brocolli and oyster sauce
Lemon Chicken
Black Pepper Venison
Hot Plate Beancurd
Seafood Fried Rice

Rosalind - Interesting times ahead for my club for sure. Still two wins in a row isn't half bad. The new "crook" may have learnt a lesson about British ownership over the last couple of weeks and hopefully he can bring some success. Wants to buy back the ground which is a good start. I would have thought football was not a favourite topic this weekend after the shambles of a performance by your boys at Anfield.

Bryony - I will do and thank you but her head is quite big enough already! I think the Canadian posters will be all very close this year - Micky, Nancy, Ilana, Chelle, Lori, Judy and others all sure to get plenty of posts.

Gail - I enjoy the Inspector Banks series myself set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Eastvale. The first thing I did when I got to the site was check my PM and I have answered your questions. They are not too obscene actually but the first one you gave me is a euphemistic term and the second one is often used lovingly, well sort of.
I am still harbouring the misapprehension that my reading years are legion. When mortalities hand brushes my shoulder I'll start to take the buying a bit more easy - I am still able to throw him a feint or two for now, I hope. xx
Sleeping on the floor is very much a malay thing, Gail. Not for me I must say. The In-Laws have a nice double bed that they never seem to use. I usually crash out directly underneath the main ceiling fan to lessen the sauna effect of village living.

RD - You are a crafty one, I'll grant you. I think you know full well that studied hints like that are more than likely to be self-fullfilling.

Becky - Why thank you my dear......I'm just the host.

Judy - You know I sometimes feel guilty for my purchasing mania but it does seem to entertain so. xx
Weekend was good. It is nice to see the In-laws once in a while.

Yikes Lori - Then I really do need to get a plan for where they are going to go as space is really becoming an issue. xx

Benita - It does seem that the Winter Olympics has a bigger profile than usual this time. It is entertaining to watch sports that collectively entice. I love the luge, bobsleigh and ski-jumping as they are events that I know I would never have had the nerve to do.

Connie - Thanks; it was good but very heavy rain between Machap and Melaka (about 100 kms or 60 miles), I am not the most collected of drivers in torrential rain after totalling my old volvo in such circumstances 6 years ago.

Barbara - It was horrendous in truth I woke up aching all over. I will really have to stay in a nearby hotel next trip down. No aircon, no bed, no hot water and the toilet adjacent to the kitchen (where all are in permanent residence) is a constant bug bear. We have rarely done so so as not to offend the FIL but I think enough is enough.

Amber - Hani too has back-ache so at least I am happy to note that she is even more spoilt than I am. The kids always love seeing their grandparents though.

I am sure Hani will be taking more photos of Yasmyne, Kath, but mother and daughter have had a fraught weekend. They are far too alike actually. I had to stop the car two thirds of the way to Johor Bahru yesterday and give them both a talking to. Didn't really work though.

Why thank you Connie, I think!

Mark - Yes mate I did manage to get a bit of reading done this morning before the sun got too high in the sky.

Paul, poor fellow, I hope you'll recover soon

Thanks Barbara - I am already a-ok........a little bit of sunshine of course helps.

Scallops with Broccoli and Oyster sauce, YUM! What is Kailan?

I'm a Stross fan too - to the degree that I've been hoarding.... uh oh.

Tam - Kailan is called Chinese Kale. This is what it looks like with garlic, oyster sauce and salted fish:



Lucy - The premise for the books certainly looks interesting.

Happy Sunday, Paul. Your meal out sounded fabulous but you get major points for staying with the inlaws and sleeping on the floor with no air conditioning. I think I could do that exactly once. Glad you're back safe and sound. Driving in torrential rain doesn't sound like fun either but you were with your lovely family. I'm also looking forward to eventually seeing Yasmyne's new do.

Ooh, that looks delish. I'm weird, I guess. I love green leafy veggies, like brussels sprouts.

I made it Paul! LOL! I love all the book buying you are doing. Beautiful Belle is taking after her dear old dad. Congratulations to Yasmyne. I know you and Hani are proud.

Any news on the driver search?

Yes, I want to know whether you'll get more reading time soon too! You need a driver badly, what with the constant flux of incoming books!

#215. I know. Disappointing. But our next game is Man United at home, so nice easy 3 points. ;) (Which Arsenal will make hard work of)

Pat - I suppose it is common here as all the old Kampung houses have no air-con and the malays typically are a floor-sleeping-people.

Tam - I like them too but funnily enough I don't care too much for Brussels sprouts. My twin's favourite veggie though.

Roberta - Dear dad is certainly starting to feel old I can tell you. No progress at all on the driver front. The mooted interviewee never materialised.

Ilana - You are right my dear; I could really do with the driver again and not only to increase my reading time although that is reason enough.

Rosalind - Yes Man Utd doesn't strike trepidation into the hearts of other teams so much this season does it? I have been impressed by Arsenal in the main this season but when they have come unstuck like at Man City and against Liverpool, they have done so spectacularly.

>181 PaulCranswick: It's that that I don't recommend it because I don't like Tad Williams. I simply haven't read him!

Hi, Paul ~ Just catching up on all the threads. Glad you're back home safe and sound where there is a real bed to sleep on! Dinner last night sounds amazing! Making my mouth water just reading about it, even before you posted the pic of the Kailin.

Congratulations to Yasmyne!! We love both the winter and summer Oylmpics. As a matter of fact we're watching the women's snowboarding right now. They can fly!

Paul,
I just had this image of you telling Hani and Yasmyne, "Don't make me pull over!"

Congratulations to Yasmyne--you are obviously very proud.

Your dinner sounds fabulous as does your book haul. My own book buying has trailed off lately which is probably just as well--I'm at least getting closer to reading more than I buy.

Evocative poppies at the top of your thread. I remember how puzzled I was when I lived in London by the ubiquitous poppies people pinned on for remembrance in the fall--not something one sees much in the US.

Morphy - That does surprise me actually that you haven't yet read any of his books.

Mary - I must admit I slept like the proverbial log last night in an airconditioned room upon a thick mattress with an excess of pillows.

Bonnie - I caught the Czech girl's fall and the view of her at the bottom shaking her head and getting on with it seconds after being tossed down the slopes like a rag doll. Her helmet was smashed to smithereens but she looked merely disappointed not to score.

Stephanie - Believe me you don't want to be in the middle of those two arguing. Very, very distracting when driving and not the thing to be doing hurtling southwards at 80 mph.

Anne - I am proud but she has another 8 exams upcoming and she gave me the invoice for it just before setting off to work this morning. It works out at $1,040 for the exams so she better keep making me proud. The fact that the deadline to pay is also today somehow skipped her mind. If I wasn't my own boss we would have been in trouble long ago!
I think the wearing of poppies is a wonderful tradition. Remembrance Sunday in the UK is something I watch on the BBC/Sky news every year even now.

Checking in, Paul, probably just in time for your next thread.... :-)

Ouch re: the sleeping on the floor! But yummy food, Paul.

Have any of us had a good Football weekend ..... I think not

Which is worse to be spanked by Liverpool 5-1 or to be unable to win against Fulham ( Bottom with -31 GD) ???

Ellen - Maybe a bit later today my dear. I am going to pay my credit card today to enable me to do some of my outstanding January Book Depo Orders/ Prize winners. It isn't maxed but I think it is five weeks since I made a payment.

Roni - It is a sure sign of ageing I think. I never used to mind so much when I was a bit younger but I really feel the heat and the hard floors nowadays.

No my football weekend was splendid Alex. Two wins on the bounce and in schoolboy conditions at Yeovil (that famous hotbed of footballing excellence) we won the game with a 45 yard free kick intended as a cross which the wind got hold of and put in the top corner.

I have it on good authority that the Football league will use the "fit and proper test" to deny Massimo Chellino's attempt to buy my club. I am told that there are significant Malaysian investors lined up to then step in and take over (I'm in no way involved by the way!).

>242 PaulCranswick: (I'm in no way involved by the way!)

o.O

Mmmm

O.o

Ahh haah

Paul, I wish you a fantastic start into a new week :-D

243 > Exactly my thoughts ......

Your relief at returning to an air-conditioned night's sleep is just so difficult to wrap my little brain around right now. It's -13F here with -29F wind chill this morning. Again. Sheesh.

RD - hahaha ahahaha; I think

Barbara - Strange day. Computer not powering up properly at work but other than that quite acceptable.

Alex - Believe me if I could influence the thing at all I would have done so several years ago.

Amber - Before you know it you'll be sweltering as winter bypasses spring and heads straight to summer.

>247 PaulCranswick:: Ha! I hope you're wrong, but you're likely not. Blerg.

Amber - The seasons seem to have gone mad. Over here there used to be a discernible monsoon season but not anymore.

>249 PaulCranswick:: It's fairly terrifying, really. We've really screwed things up here (and by 'here' I mean on this planet, of course).

16.

Magician : Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

Year of Publication : 1982 (16/150)
American State : California (6/152)
Category Challenge : Sci-Fi/Fantasy (1 book)

I am being encouraged to read more Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels by Roni, Nina, Morphy and others and this turned out to be a great place to start.

Being familiar with elves and dwarves and such like from reading Tolkein this book has them in splendid array. The first in the authors, rightly it seems, acclaimed saga of the Riftwars, this follows the fortunes of Pug from Castle Keep serving boy to Squire and Magician's Apprentice.

Dark forces from another world have found a way to open a Rift or portal in time and space to allow them to cross over to the world of our story from their own in search of conquest and minerals.

Perhaps lacks quite the sweep and literate majesty of LOTR but it is a stirring and brilliantly conceived story well told.

8/10

Pages in this book : 485
Pages in completed books in 2014: 3,770

Revised Physical TBR : 2,774

Indeed Amber. I am not one of the world's most rampant ecologists but something really does need to be done in terms of conservation. I was in a discussion today and my friend blithely informed us that he had seen a report from a government agency that 7 bn souls will be reached and cause an implosion that takes us back to 2.5 bn in a generation. Scary stuff.

OMG, that sounds horrible :-((((

17.

If This is a Man by Primo Levi

Year of Publication : 1947 (17/150)
American State : N/A
Category Challenge : Holocaust (1 book)

I feel sure that if Primo Levi had not met an untimely end in 1987 he would have won the Nobel Prize for literature; his If Not Now, When? is as good a novel of the holocaust as any I have read with the possible exception of Night.

Levi brings a scientist's forensic eye to a dissection of the experience of a year in Auschwitz until January 1945 when the camp was liberated by the Russians. The sheer horror and grinding brutality of the place, both between its "inmates" and its overlords and between the "inmates" themselves in an unremitting struggle to survive, is told with chilling clarity.

We don't get the emotional bravura apparent in some of the more obviously heart-rending accounts of that time but the explicitness and completeness of the picture he charts with fiendish detail is more telling for that. There is an honesty in his writing on the avoidance of hard-labour and the milking of illness and small friendships in order to find a means to cope that quells the blood and makes ticks under the eyes.

Levi doesn't exactly put us there with his writing but he sure makes us jolly glad we were nowhere near it. If I have a slight criticism it would be that he places us within the camp in a few short pages and his detailing of aspects of the camp in staccato chapters loses the edge of some of the emotional well-points. Who am I to quibble though, he survived and his writing is essential reading for all those concerned that these things are consigned to history and memoir rather than present actuality.

8/10

Pages in this book : 179

Pages in completed books in 2014 : 3,949

Revised Physical TBR : 2,773

Barbara - Doesn't have to happen does it? Too much by too few when the many haven't enough.

18.

The Hawk in the Rain by Ted Hughes

Date of Publication : 1957 (18/150)
American State : N/A
Category Challenge : Yorkshire Writers (2 books)

Regulars to my threads will know that Ted Hughes' poetry is a particular favourite of mine. In my opinion his writing is possibly the most powerful of the post 2nd world war world and this was his debut collection.

It announced to a stunned public a writer of immense virtuosity whose writing sparkled with a vitriol and anger that was summoned from the depths of the grey, brooding landscapes he came from and painted into words on a canvas of spleen.

The last anthology of poetry I read prior to this was by Mary Oliver whose gentle, thoughtful and serene treatments of nature were torn asunder in moments by the catapults of venomous bestiality apparent in Hughes' nature in all its primitive splendour.

The anthology concludes with some pretty effective war poetry from a writer writing in the first generation spared the agonies of the last war.

This is from the second verse of Griefs for Dead Soldiers

Secretest, tiniest, there, where the widow watches on the table
The telegram opening of its own accord
Inescapably and more terribly than any bomb
That dives to the cellar and lifts the house. The bared
Words shear the hawsers of love that now lash
Back in darkness, blinding and severing. To a world
Lonely as her skull and little as her heart

The doors and windows open like great gates to a hell.
Still she will carry cups from table to sink.
She cannot build her sorrow into a monument
And walk away from it. Closer than thinking
The dead man hangs around her neck, but never
Close enough to be touched, or thanked even,
For being all that remains in a world smashed.

An imperfect portent of the brilliance that Hughes was to bestow upon the world of letters during his career.

8/10

Pages this Book : 54
Pages in Completed Books in 2014 : 4,003

Revised Physical TBR: 2,772

If This is a Man is an incredible book.

Rhian - Yes, it is. Superlatives do not do justice to writing of this kind. I suppose I really ought to go back a amend my rating on all three of my last books because all make their mark splendidly but in very different ways.

Hi Paul - congratulations to Yasmyne.

Pleased to hear you survived your weekend on the floor, with no air-con, and the drive home.

As you liked the Feist I predict you will also like the Tad Williams. And I definitely recommend the Feist/Wurts collaboration which starts with Daughter of the Empire - you get to see some of the other side and Pug does turn up in that one as well.

Calm - I suppose I am the male equivalent of a drama queen!
More fantasy and sci-fi will be lined up progressively then given the success of the last one. I will also want to continue the Series so I need to track down Magician : Master in order to do so.

The Levi book is onto the wishlist, thanks for that. And thanks for the Hughes poem excerpt as well. These lines in particular broke my heart:
The bared
Words shear the hawsers of love that now lash
Back in darkness, blinding and severing.

Julia - After the fantasy of Feist I had the grimmest of realities with Levi followed hard on its heels by the sharpened teeth of Hughes' metaphors.

Primo Levi should have won the Nobel for literature on grounds of powerful writing. But I don't think that's the main criterion for awarding the prize to a writer or how can one explain the medals of Elfriede Jelinek or Herta Muller? Permaybehaps it's that their power vanishes in English translation, but in that case what did it consist of?

hi Paul! Have a happy week!

>259 calm: -260! Absolutly rigth. The Daughter of the Empire trilogy is, for me, the best series within the whole series!.

And please try also the books of Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, Elantris (a standalone) etc.).

I'm a fantasy fan too!

To be scrupulously fair, RD, I haven't read Jelinek but I was not impressed by the only Herta Muller novel I read. I don't think a poorish translation can excuse the dross I waded through in The Appointment. Levi was a lion of a writer when the mice won the awards.

Connie - It is more than likely that I'll wend my way gaily through the Riftwar books. And then onto to other writers in the genre.

> 254

Re: If This is a Man

I read such books with trepidation as my maternal grandparents (and many more members of both sides of my family) perished in Auschwitz. However, from time to time, I feel the need to sit down with such works, if only to put myself in their place and feel a bit of what happened to them in my own psyche. Oddly enough, it was the graphic novels Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman which has most successfully done this for me to date. Perhaps just because they were graphic novels, I felt detached enough and less afraid to take them in hand and absorb more of that work's contents. It's odd that I have books by Primo Levi, but have neither chosen to read them nor catalogued them on LT.

Madeline - I of course lost no family in the Holocaust although some of my family did perish (a couple of Great Uncles) fighting the Nazis whilst most of the rest of the world had either given up or not yet felt the need to stand up to their regime. It is therefore with more obvious detachment than yourself that I read such works. I do however find them profoundly moving and vital documents in an attempt to stop similar things re-occurring. Growing up in or nearby Leeds in the 1960s and 1970s I had a lot of Jewish friends and have never been able to comprehend or countenance that anti-semitism so inherent in much of middle Europe of the times preceding my own. I think it of the utmost importance that Holocaust writing not be allowed to fade into obscurity not only for its artistic merit (on the whole utterly splendid anyway) but for its social and educational value.