PAUL C in the War Room - XXIV : Aghanistan - America's longest war

Afghanistan was a war without clearly defined aims after the initial reason for invasion (the provision of a haven for Osama bin Laden) had lapsed. It will be remembered by me for the utter chaos of withdrawal. The decision to send the troops home was the right decision but its manner was bungled in the extreme.

The Opening Words

I am reading Virgin Soil this month which is Turgenev's last novel but one which is regarded by a number as his very best.




At one o’clock in the afternoon of a spring day in the year 1868, a young man of twenty-seven, carelessly and shabbily dressed, was toiling up the back staircase of a five-storied house on Officers Street in St. Petersburg. Noisily shuffling his down-trodden goloshes and slowly swinging his heavy, clumsy figure, the man at last reached the very top flight and stopped before a half-open door hanging off its hinges. He did not ring the bell, but gave a loud sigh and walked straight into a small, dark passage.

Interested..............................?

Books Read January to September

January

1. Dear Future Boyfriend by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (2000) 90 pp Poetry / 150Y Challenge 15/150
2. Pax Romana by Adrian Goldsworthy (2016) 420 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 16/150
3. The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff (1959) 306 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 17/150
4. Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (1964) 286 pp Fiction / BAC / 150Y Challenge 18/150
5. Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles (2010) 373 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 19/150
6. When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll (2019) 248 pp Fiction / War Room / 150y Challenge 20/150
7. Double Indemnity by James M Cain (1936) 136 pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 21/150
8. Persian Fire by Tom Holland (2005) 376 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 22/150

February

9. North Woods by Daniel Mason (2023) 369 pp Fiction 150Y Challenge 23/150
10. The African by JMG Le Clezio (2004) 106 pp Non-Fiction / 150Y Challenge 24/150
11. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson (2019) 564 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
12. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (1927) 297 pp Fiction 150Y Challenge 25/150
13. Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell (1987) 405 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 26/150

March

14. Fatal Colours by George Goodwin (2011) 239 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 27/150
15. R.S. Thomas : Selected Poems by R.S. Thomas (2003) 343 pp Poetry / BAC / 150Y Challenge 28/150
16. The Maiden by Kate Foster (2023) 370 pp Fiction
17. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan (2024) 334pp Fiction / Warm Room
18. The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright (2023) 273 pp Fiction
19. The Brothers York : An English Tragedy by Thomas Penn (2019) 572 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
20. Pet by Catherine Chidgey (2023) 323 pp Fiction
21. Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshanathan (2023) 341 pp Fiction
22. Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney (2024) 217 pp Fiction
23. Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (1954) 108 pp Drama / BAC / 150 Y Challenge 29/150
24. Bosworth: Psychology of a Battle by Michael Jones (2002) 220 pp Non-Fiction/ War Room / 150Y Challenge 30/150

April

25. The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling (1956) 232 pp Non-Fiction / AAC / 150Y Challenge 31/150
26. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955) 249pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 32/150 / 1001 Books
27. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad (2023) 319 pp Fiction / War Room
28. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (1977) 186 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 33/150 / BAC/ 1001 Books
29. A History of the Crusades I by Steven Runciman (1951) 281 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 34/150
30. Loot by Tania James (2023) 289 pp Fiction
31. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp Poetry / 150Y Challenge 35/150
32. A History of the Crusades II by Steven Runciman (1952) 385 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
33. A History of the Crusades III by Steven Runciman (1954) 401 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
34. Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy (2023) 233 pp Fiction
35. The People of Hemso by August Strindberg (1887) 152 pp Fiction / 1001 Books / 150Y Challenge 36/150
36. Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1902) 237 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 37/150
37. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875) 766 pp Fiction / BAC / 150Y Challenge 38/150
38. The Details by Ia Genberg (2022) 151 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 39/150

May

39. Napoleon by Alan Forrest (2011) 331 pp Non-Fiction / War Room
40. The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey (2024) 449 pp Fiction

June

41. Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris (2022) 550 pp Thriller / War Room
42. Selling Manhattan by Carol Ann Duffy (1987) 52 pp Poetry
43. A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley (1939) 392 pp Fiction / BAC / 150Y Challenge 40/150
44. The Fox by D.H. Lawrence (1922) 123 pp Fiction / BAC / 1001 Books / 150Y Challenge 41/150
45. Peace by Richard Bausch (2008) 171 pp War Room / 150Y Challenge 42/150
46. The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (2019) 304 pp Fiction / BAC
47. River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure (2024) 339 pp Fiction
48. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (2017) 112 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 43/150
49. The House of Broken Bricks by Fiona Williams (2024) 377 pp Fiction / Alternate Women's Prize
50. Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger (1920) 296 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 1001 Books / Anita Memoriam / 150Y Challenge 44/150
51. A Move in the Weather by Anthony Thwaite (2003) 67 pp Poetry

July

52. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1989) 137 pp Fiction / War Room / 150 Year Challenge 45/150
53. The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe (2023) 305 pp Fiction / Women's Alternative Longlist
54. The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon (1961) 255 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150 Y Challenge 46/150
55. The Kreutzer Sonata by Leon Tolstoy (1891) 76 pp Fiction / 1001 Challenge / 150 Y Challenge 47/150
56. The Way Back by Erich Maria Remarque (1931) 286 pp Fiction/ War Room/ 150Y Challenge 48/150 / Anita Memoriam Read
57. Berlin Cantata by Jeffrey Lewis (2012) 248 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 49/150
58. The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld (2020) 359 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 50/150

August

59. Poems : MacNeice by Louis MacNeice (1935) 37 pp Poetry / 150Y Challenge 51/150
60. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (1981) 421 pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 52/150
61. Chess by Stefan Zweig (1941) 83pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 53/150
62. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang (1997) 230 pp Non-Fiction/ War Room /150 Challenge 54/150
63. The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan (2021) 435 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 55/150
64. The Grand Alliance by Winston Churchill (1950) 629 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / BAC / 150 Y Challenge 56/150
65. A Farewell to France by Noel Barber (1983) 787 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 57/150
66. Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov (1933) 197 pp Fiction / 150 Y Challenge 58/150
67. War Diaries 1939-1945 by Viscount Alanbrooke (1957) 721 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150 Y Challenge 59/150
68. Close Quarters by Michael Gilbert (1947) 190 pp Thriller / 150 Y Challenge 60/150
69. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron (2015) 390 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 61/150

September

70. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1974) 355 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 62/150
71. Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse (1965) 300pp Fiction / War Room / Anita Memoriam / 150Y Challenge 63/150
72. An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen (1882) 82 pp Play / 150Y Challenge 64/150
73. Academy Street by Mary Costello (2014) 179 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 65/150
74. 33 Days by Leon Werth (1940) 116 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 66/150
75. Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald (1980) 200 pp Fiction / BAC / War Room / 150Y Challenge 67/150
76. Counter-Attack and Other Poems by Siegfried Sassoon (1918) 63 pp Poetry / War Room / 150Y Challenge 68/150
77. Marius the Epicurean by Walter Pater (1885) 267 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 69/150
78. The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin (1976) 258 pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 70/150
79. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962) 146 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 71/150
80. Mrs. Ames by E.F. Benson (1912) 301 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 72/150
81. The Story of a Life by Aharon Appelfeld (1999) 191 pp Non-Fiction / 150Y Challenge 73/150
82. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West (1930) 285 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 74/150
83. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884) 305 pp Fiction / AAC / 1001 Books / 150Y Challenge 75/150
84. Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon (2009) 210 pp Short Stories / AAC / 150Y Challenge 76/150
85. Payment Deferred by C.S. Forester (1926) 187 pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 77/150
86. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 45 pp Drama / 150Y Challenge 78/150
87. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (1988) 862 pp Non-Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 79/150
88. Gigi by Colette (1944) 57 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 80/150
89. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1963) 181pp Fiction / 150Y Chellenge 81/150

Books Read October to December

October

90. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (1990) 233 pp Fiction / War Room / 150Y Challenge 82/150
91. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) 70 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 83/150/ 1001 Books
92. Ratlines by Stuart Neville (2013) 399 pp Thriller / 150Y Challenge 84/150
93. Another Part of the Wood by Beryl Bainbridge (1968) 165 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 85/150
94. Holes by Louis Sachar (1998) 233 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 86/150 / Anita Memorial Read.
95. A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde (1893) 80 pp Drama / 150Y Challenge 87/150
96. Say Uncle by Kay Ryan (1991) 76 pp Poetry / 150Y Challenge 88/150 / AAC
97. The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux (1975) 379 pp Non-Fiction / 150Y Challenge 89/150
98. The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald (1969) 175 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 90/150
99. Martha Quest by Doris Lessing (1952) 333 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 91/150
100. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (1971) 221pp Non-Fiction / 150Y Challenge 92/150 / War Room
101. Summer by Edith Wharton (1917) 194 pp Fiction / 150Y Challenge 93/150 / 1001 Books

Currently reading

The War Room



JANUARY - Ancient Wars (Greeks/Romans/Persians/Carthage/Egyptians/Alexander, etc) https://www.librarything.com/topic/356820
1. Pax Romana by Adrian Goldsworthy
2. The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
3. Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles
4. Persian Fire by Tom Holland

FEBRUARY - The American War of Independence : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358097#n8402612
1. The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson
2. Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell

MARCH - The War of the Roses : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358941
1. Fatal Colours by George Goodwin
2. The Brothers York : An English Tragedy by Thomas Penn

APRIL - Wars of Religion https://www.librarything.com/topic/359824#n8524265
1. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
2. A History of the Crusades I by Steven Runciman
3. A History of the Crusades II by Steven Runciman
4. A History of the Crusades III by Steven Runciman
5. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

MAY - Napoleonic Wars : https://www.librarything.com/topic/360466
1. Napoleon by Alan Forrest

JUNE - English Civil War : https://www.librarything.com/topic/361198
1. Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

JULY - Colonial Wars : https://www.librarything.com/topic/361750#n8568832
1. The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

AUGUST - WW2
1. When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll
2. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
3. Peace by Richard Bausch
4. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
5. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
6. The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
7. The Grand Alliance by Winston Churchill
8. A Farewell to France by Noel Barber
9. War Diaries 1939-1945 by Viscount Alanbrooke
10. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
11. Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse
12. 33 Days by Leon Werth
13. Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
14. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

SEPTEMBER - American Civil War : https://www.librarything.com/topic/363081#n8612485
1. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
2. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

OCTOBER - American Follies (Korea, Vietnam, Gulf-War, Afghanistan) : https://www.librarything.com/topic/364666
1. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

NOVEMBER - WW1 :
1. Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger
2. The Road Back by Erich Maria Remarque
3. Counter-Attack by Siegfried Sassoon

DECEMBER - Spanish Civil War

WILDCARD - Pick your own fight

BAC

British Author Challenge (Hosted by my friend Amanda)



JANUARY - Joan Aiken & Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle : Black Hearts in Battersea
FEBRUARY - Emma Newman & Ronald Firbank
MARCH - Welsh Writers : Selected Poems R.S. Thomas; Under Milk Wood
APRIL - Barbara Pym & Anthony Trollope - Quartet in Autumn; The Way We Live Now
MAY - Time Portals : A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley
JUNE - Kiran Millwood Hargrave - The Deathless Girls & D.H. Lawrence - The Fox
JULY -
AUGUST - Winston Churchill - The Grand Alliance
SEPTEMBER - The 80s - Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald

American Author Challenge (Hosted with occasional assistance this year by my friend Linda)



JANUARY - Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn
FEBRUARY - Susan Sontag
MARCH - Truman Capote
APRIL - Non-Fiction - The Sweet Science by AJ Liebling
MAY - William Maxwell
JUNE - Queer Authors - Say Uncle by Kay Ryan
JULY
AUGUST - Jeffrey Lent
SEPTEMBER - Adoptive Americans - Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon

150 YEARS OF BOOKS

150 years; 150 books; 150 authors; 15 months

Done:
Row 1 : 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884, 1885, 1887


Row 2 : 1889, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1900, 1902


Row 3 : 1904, 1908, 1910, 1912, 1915, 1917, 1918


Row 4 : 1920, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1933


Row 5 : 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1945, 1947


Row 6 : 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963


Row 7 : 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977


Row 8 : 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991


Row 9 : 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008


Row 10 : 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

BEST BOOKS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

NYT made their list so here is mine:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/362027#8586025

Books Added in 2024

January books 1-31
https://www.librarything.com/topic/357215#8360403

February books 32-73
https://www.librarything.com/topic/358698#8432568

March books 74-104
https://www.librarything.com/topic/359405#8476551

April books 105-130
https://www.librarything.com/topic/360210#8513437

May books 131-144
https://www.librarything.com/topic/360952#8540231

June books 145-160
https://www.librarything.com/topic/361445#8558052

July books 161-182
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362027#8578805

August books 183-200
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362737#8601627

September books 201-234
https://www.librarything.com/topic/363372#8623252

235. The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
236. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley
237. Openings by Lucy Caldwell
238. On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
239. Nonfiction by Julie Myerson
240. Indiom by Daljit Nagra
241. One Fine Day : Britain's Empire on the Brink by Matthew Parker
242. Shardik by Richard Adams
243. And Yet by Kate Baer DONE
244. Love's Bonfire by Tom Paulin
245. A Scattering by Christopher Reid
246. Say Uncle by Kay Ryan - READ
247. Writers Writing Dying by CK Williams
248. The Between by Tananarive Due
249. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
250. The Wolves of Eternity by Karl-Ove Knausgaard
251. Hangman by Maya Binyam
252. A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson
253. The Searcher by Tana French
254. The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk
255. The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov
256. The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
57. Geneva by Richard Armitage DONE
258. The Wrong Woman by J.P. Pomare
259. The Silence of the Choir by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
260. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
261. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
262. Box 88 by Charles Cumming DONE
263. The Safe Place by Anna Downes DONE
264. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths
265. Editor by Max Hastings
266. The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes
267. The Fury by Alex Michaelides
268. Gateway by Frederik Pohl
269. Good Girl Bad Girl by Michael Robotham
270. The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux

Book Stats

Books Read : 101
Pages Read in completed books : 27,791 pp

Longest book : Battle Cry of Freedom : 862 pp
Shortest book : Poems : Louis MacNeice : 37 pp
Mean book length : 275.16 pp

Books written by men : 60
Books written by women : 41

Non-Fiction : 23
Fiction : 59
Poetry : 8
Thriller : 7
Drama : 4

1870's : 1 book
1880's : 4 books
1890'S : 3 books
1900's : 2 books
1910's : 3 books
1920's : 4 books
1930's : 6 books
1940's : 4 books
1950's : 10 books
1960's : 7 books
1970's : 6 books
1980's : 7 books
1990's : 5 books
2000's : 7 books
2010's : 14 books
2020's : 18 books

UK Authors : 44
US Authors : 29
Ireland Authors : 6
Sweden Authors : 2
France Authors : 4
Malaysia Authors : 1
New Zealand Authors : 1
Palestine Authors : 1
Germany Authors : 2
Nigeria Authors : 1
Russian Authors : 3
Austria Authors : 1
Japan Authors : 2
Norway Authors : 1
Israel Authors : 1
Bosnian Author : 1
Netherlands Author : 1

Nobel Winners : 1 (79/120)
Carnegie Medal Winners : 2 (7th overall)
Women's Prize Winners : 1
Pulitzer Fiction Prize Winners : 1
1001 Books : 11

Read : 101 books
Added : 270 books

Change to TBR : +169

Welcome to my 24th thread of 2024

Happy New Thread

>14 avatiakh: Lovely to see you, Kerry. x

I may be a little slow in getting set up as my work is a little on the hectic side.

Happy new thread, Paul!

Happy new thread Paul!

>17 Familyhistorian: Thank you Meg

>18 quondame: Thanks, Susan

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Paul.

>20 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda

>21 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deb.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread Paul.

Since I pretty much missed your last thread, happy two new threads! LOL

Happy new thread Paul.

Happy new thread, Paul.

Happy new thread, Paul!

Hi Paul, Happy New Thread mate.

>23 figsfromthistle: Anita, thank you. Always a pleasure to see you.

>24 Kristelh: Thank you, Kristel

>25 thornton37814: Doubly thankful to you, Lori. xx

>26 SirThomas: Thank you, dear Thomas.

>27 ArlieS: Thanks Arlie.

>28 bell7: Thank you, Mary

Happy New Thread, Paul. I hope all is well, with you and your family.

>29 johnsimpson: Great to see you, John. What a shame to see that Brook and Root could not repeat their Multan heroics yesterday but Duckett is playing well too.

>30 TripleL2463: Not sure what I am supposed to be apologising for or whose birthday I am supposed to be remembering. It is my son's birthday tomorrow and I shall be video calling him.

>34 msf59: Thanks Mark. Son broken hearted (a bit) and Father recovering from stroke but all is ok otherwise buddy.

Happy new thread, Paul. I am heading out of town tomorrow and will not be back until late Sunday. Do not miss me too much, lol :)

Happy new thread, Paul!

>37 alcottacre: I always miss you when you are not around and not posting, Juana. xx

>38 drneutron: Thanks DocRoc.

Happy new thread, Paul!

Happy new thread bud

>40 atozgrl: Thank you, dear Irene

>41 louisisaloafofbreb: Hi Lily, how are things with you?

Poet of the Day

Gillian Clarke. Born in Cardiff in 1937, Gillian Clarke was National Poet of Wales from 2008 to 2016.

Her poems are affecting, immediate and rooted in her place but somehow she has never quite gotten the recognition or following she deserves. This is her poem SPRING EQUINOX from her 2021 collection The Silence.


Spring Equinox, 2021

First summer night
in a world remade,
streets are carless,
silence walks the roads.

Flamboyant, a kite
floats flame on blue,
flexes wings and the fork of its tail
and turns on a breath.

Miles high above the fields,
over flights of rooks, crows, gulls,
over the cities, the clouds,
the atmosphere,

in the vault of heaven
the ozone layer clears
of particulates, of nitrogen dioxide,
and we breathe again.

In this clean new silence
all sound is birdsong,
a small wind
in the trees,

the fall of a petal,
an opening leaf,
the turn of a page,
your breath, mine.

>43 PaulCranswick: I like Gillian Clarke's work too Paul.

>42 PaulCranswick: Failing school still, trying to get my grades but yeah

Slogging on through The Betrothed. I do not read Italian but I picked up what I thought were two copies of I Promessi Sposi in Italian at a local college library thinking that I could look at a few passages of the Italian and Moore’s English translation side-by-side to get an idea of why Manzoni’s prose is so highly regarded. Turns out that one copy of the Italian was restricted to Ch 1-8, the drama which forces the couple in question to flee their local village, and the other was an abridgement (both were intended for students whose first language was English). This seems cavalier treatment of The Great Italian Novel, but reflects the fact that it is a very diffuse work, a journey through 17th C Italian history which Manzoni intended as a window into issues surrounding the Risorgimento of his time. The lovers’ story takes something of a back seat, let’s just say. I remain committed, but regret that I cannot appreciate Manzoni in the original.

>1 PaulCranswick: Read Hopkirk’s The Great Game recently, with great enjoyment. Afghanistan has a long history as a no-win zone.

>44 Caroline_McElwee: Strangely overlooked, Caroline. She has a very sure touch.

>45 louisisaloafofbreb: Stick at it, Lily.

Happy New Thread !! And Happy Birthday to your son!!

Happy new thread, Paul!

>47 booksaplenty1949: There was a documentary series on TV. A long complicated history of one war after the other.

>46 booksaplenty1949: Well, I certainly couldn't appreciate him in the original. Am interested though to see how it makes out in the end as I will surely read it myself sooner rather than later.

>47 booksaplenty1949: I have seen that in the bookstores and may add it soon. William Dalrymple has also written well on the subject of the historical impossibility of success militarily in Afghanistan.

>49 hredwards: Thank you Harold. I have just messaged him since I am eight hours ahead of him and it is just the 18th here.

>50 EllaTim: Thanks, Ella. Lovely to see you. xx

>51 PaulCranswick: Hopkirk’s style is consistently engaging. Material he knows in depth is made accessible to the non-specialist reader. A gift.

>51 PaulCranswick: Had a discussion with a (very well-read) English acquaintance on the subject of what was The Greatest Novel in the English Language. He was clear it was Middlemarch but I was unwilling to commit. For some other languages I gather the votes are in, although I note that there is a Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky website somewhere, so perhaps Russian is not among them.

Hey Paul- reading up a storm still I see! Good to know there are some things in this world we can count on :)

ETA: A few years back now I read Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev and enjoyed it, if you are looking for a complement to Virgin Soil

>53 booksaplenty1949: He sounds like Dalrymple's twin! I must add that one to my shelves.

>54 booksaplenty1949: As I mentioned in a recent thread, Middlemarch is still on my to do list.
Greatest English Language Novel that I have read? Gosh that is a tough one - I would go to the following century and choose Lord of the Rings probably if only for its impact on my reading.
French Language - Hugo and Balzac are undoubtedly great but my first love was always Zola so it would probably be Germinal.
German Language literature is something I have always struggled with but All Quiet on the Western Front probably.
Russian? Anna Karenina would have Tolstoy shade Dostoevsky.
Italian? If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
Spanish? The one I most enjoyed would be Shadow of the Wind but best probably Marquez with One Hundred Years of Solitude

>55 LovingLit: Lovely to see you, Megan. I will look out for that one. x

Lunchtime additions

253. The Searcher by Tana French
254. The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk
255. The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov
256. The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

Hopkirk was strongly recommended by my pal booksaplenty1949

Poet of the Day.

W.H. Davies. Another Welsh poet William Henry Davies was born in Newport in 1871 and died in 1940 after a very full and colorful life. He was the original Supertramp and wrote the book of the same name celebrating some of his adventures in the UK and the USA as a drifter. He lost part of one leg in the Gold Rush in Canada; he also received 12 strokes of the birch as a juvenile offender for stealing handbags.

His poetry was much loved in the gentler pre war period and this is probably his most famous poem LEISURE



What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Happy New Thread!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365046

>60 SilverWolf28: Thank you Silver.

>61 SilverWolf28: I aim to make full use of the readathon this weekend.

>56 PaulCranswick: One has one’s favourites, but there is also interest in identifying a novel which has literary excellence but also exemplifies a theme of national significance. This seems easier to do with almost every other literature than that of Great Britain, for some reason.

>59 PaulCranswick: I wish all of us leisure to look around with the vision to take in the wonders that surround us!

>63 booksaplenty1949: Maybe that is because of the different cultures using the English language as a mother OR most-used tongue.
The Great British Novel - ?
The Great Irish Novel - ?
The Great American Novel - ?
The Great Canadian Novel - ?
The Great Caribbean Novel - ?
The Great Australian Novel - ?
The Great New Zealand Novel - ?
The Great African Novel (in English) - ?
The Great Sub-Continent Novel - ?

>64 quondame: Indeed Susan. Well Davies certainly lived by that ethos.

Happy new thread! Happy Readathon!! xoxo

>66 Berly: Thank you, Kimmers! Lovely to see you posting. xx

Happy new thread!

>69 banjo123: Thank you, dear Rhonda

>65 PaulCranswick: I think Ulysses has a lock on The Great Irish Novel.

>71 booksaplenty1949: Yeah, it is pretty hard to look beyond it.

>72 PaulCranswick: I think a Great National Novel has to answer universal questions about what it means to be human, in the context of that particular place.

>73 booksaplenty1949: Like Grapes of Wrath as my pick for The Great American Novel.

>74 PaulCranswick: Hmm - Outstanding Opening Page - then, let's kill our Best Friend before somebody else does -
roundly hated by many Americans forced to read it in high school and then even as a choice...

>75 m.belljackson: I resisted reading GoW for many years after The Pearl in high school left a very bad taste. But actually now think Grapes of Wrath should be in the running for GAN.

No one but me would nominate The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump for the great U.S.A. novel. But it is so true to what it means to be resident here in the late 20th century. Or at least in LA county, which is a significant % of here.

>76 booksaplenty1949: >77 quondame: If Tom Robinson had not been murdered, To Kill a Mockingbird might qualify.

>78 m.belljackson: TKaM is frequently mentioned in discussions of this topic. Robinson’s murder is depressing but surely in keeping with the book’s message. One honest man’s attempt to procure justice, admirable as it is, is not the solution to a broken system. A happy ending to this story would have been a sell-out, I believe.

>77 quondame: How is the actual writing? Serious contestants combine medium and message.

>80 booksaplenty1949: Turtledove is a competent writer and a good storyteller. The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump is full of humor rather than angst, which for some reason seems to prevent books from being considered serious, and it is fantasy, which is another. What it does is present a world in which the interactions of many cultures are the point, not just colorful background. I totally recognized my city.

>79 booksaplenty1949: A ferocious escape would have fit.

>82 m.belljackson: In the world of wishful thinking, yes. But that was not the reality of the times.

>75 m.belljackson: It is all about opinions, Marianne. It isn't my favourite American novel perhaps or even my favourite novel of Steinbeck but it is in my honest opinion a great book.
What would you choose as the greatest American novel?

>76 booksaplenty1949: Not a perfect book but surely in the conversation. What do you think you would choose?

>77 quondame: I couldn't have nominated it, Susan, simply because I have never heard of it. Harry Turtledove and his alternative history novels I have of course heard of but not that particular book. Fascinating.

>78 m.belljackson: Yes, that is certainly a good pick. So you would only choose a book in which nobody was killed?

>79 booksaplenty1949: Yes, I think so, I would have loved a different outcome too but I guess the ending was - sadly - the right one for those times.

>80 booksaplenty1949: Good question, Susan?

>81 quondame: And quickly answered. I am partial to reading good stories well told especially laced with humour.

>82 m.belljackson: I think all sensitive readers wanted him to triumph over his circumstances or at least survive them in some way. To Kill a Mocking Bird has stayed with me over the thirty or so years since I read it and I wonder in part if it is because of the outrage of the inevitable ending.

>83 booksaplenty1949: Sadly, I think you are right. What is your nomination for great American novel?

BOOK #98



The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
Date of Publication : 1969
Origin of Author : USA
Gender of Author : Male
Pages : 175 pp

This book was given me for my secret Santa a few years ago and I am glad to have gotten to it finally.

Heartwarming collection of adventures of the Great Brain told from the perspective of his younger brother. The ending is lovely.

Poet of the Day

I have an affinity for D.J. Enright. He was born and grew up in Leamington Spa near where I was housed as a student in Warwick. He taught mainly in Egypt and the Far East (mostly Singapore) and my own life has sort of mirrored those travels. Of the same generation and ilk of Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin and, for me, as talented.

This is his poem Don't Smile Please

Since the primary school is next door

You can't help passing the playground
But don't you smile at the children
Whether a small girl or a little boy
Don't you even look
You know what people will think
And you really can't blame them.

What a world we live in! What went wrong?
If there's another world to come
Let's hope it's one where people smile
And you can smile back safely.

Once they asked you to return their ball
It had sailed over the palings -
Eyes cast discreetly upwards, you stepped
Into the street and were nearly run down
Still, a little boy said 'Thank you, mister'
A small girl almost smiled.

>88 PaulCranswick: The Great Gatsby is often mentioned in this context.

>91 booksaplenty1949: Not a personal favourite I must concede.

Often mentioned but not yet mentioned here would probably be o a number of shortlists:

Moby Dick
The Sound and the Fury
Huckleberry Finn
Blood Meridian
Lincoln in the Bardo
Beloved

>89 PaulCranswick: I devoured that series when I was a kid!

>93 amanda4242: A lovely book, for sure, Amanda.

I looked through the suggestions for the GAN here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Novel. And decided that I would have to endorse The Grapes of Wrath as probably best meeting the criteria though definately not my most favorite American novel.

>95 Kristelh: Thanks for that, Kristel. Very interesting list and I did include a number of them above. I am happy with my choice too.

>92 PaulCranswick: Not Huckleberry Finn - just do a quick Search for "The Ending of Huckleberry Finn"...and you MAY agree...

Moby Dick (yes, Paul, despite all the whale killing which I skip on later readings) would get my vote!

"The inevitable ending" of TKAMB? - I will look it up, but thought it ended will Boo Radley not being charged for any wrongdoing.

>97 m.belljackson: Huckleberry Finn has probably the most misunderstood ending in all of American literature. Yes, it's horrible, but that's the point.

There are inevitable flaws or gaps in any claim for a novel being "the great American novel." But my own nomination is Lonesome Dove. I think the idea of the frontier is central to the identity of America & the idea of being American - the ability to freely explore and challenge oneself, the individualism and yes, the brutality inherent in frontier life.

>99 ChrisG1: An excellent suggestion! I just read Lonesome Dove this year and was mightily impressed. It's sad that the Western is often a neglected genre these days.

>97 m.belljackson: Far better judges than I would put Huckleberry Finn in that spot, Marianne. Perhaps it is too much of its time for me and the excessive use of the "N" word grated more than a little for me to consider it a great book. I was though able to appreciate its narrative strengths.
I didn't say that the ending to Lee's masterpiece was right but - for its time and place - it was pretty much inevitable.

>98 amanda4242: Yeah, I can see that, Amanda.

>99 ChrisG1: You found one not on that wikipedia list that is surely worthy of inclusion, Chris. Good choice!

>100 amanda4242: I have read a few other McMurtry books, Amanda, and I really liked them. Two other suggestions would be Ragtime by Doctorow and Plainsong by Haruf.

>101 PaulCranswick: Paul - it wasn't the at times unavoidable use of the N word, that is the problem, it was Tom Sawyer's horrible betrayal of Jim.

>103 m.belljackson: In any novel that purports to expose the wrongs and injustices of its time, a happy ending distracts from the message and turns the story into a fairly tale.

>103 m.belljackson: it was Tom Sawyer's horrible betrayal of Jim

To use modern parlance, that's a feature not a bug.

The book was written during Reconstruction and Twain was making a point about the awful abuses that were still being tolerated against former slaves simply because they were black and their abusers were white.

>105 amanda4242: Those abuse points had already clearly been made - this ending was a needless betrayal of both Jim and Huck's friendship with Jim.

>106 m.belljackson: Um, no. Twain knew exactly what he was about: Tom knew Jim was free but still treated him like a slave, just as was happening in real life. To have it end in sunshine and roses would have betrayed the points Twain was making.

>103 m.belljackson: No, Marianne, I know what you were referring to, I am saying what I found grating about the book.

>104 booksaplenty1949: Indeed.

>105 amanda4242: Quite right, Amanda. It is pointless to blame the author for the times, but important to credit him for exposing the truth of it.

>106 m.belljackson: In a better world, yes, Marianne.

>107 amanda4242: My sympathies are with Marianne on this, but you are right Amanda. I guess Twain had to have it so.

>110 PaulCranswick: A happy ending is always pleasant to read, but it's not always right for the story being told.

>110 PaulCranswick: I agree completely, Amanda.

Just catching up with you, Paul. Interesting discussion here about The Great American Novel. If you asked me for my personal choice, I would have to say To Kill A Mockingbird. If you asked me tomorrow, I might go with Grapes Of Wrath. ;-)

It has been a difficult first period in office for the Labour Party in office with riots, freebie scandals and the national debt being in a worse state than they had apparently envisaged:

>113 Donna828: Lovely to see you as always, Donna. Two very special books both with decent claims.

>114 PaulCranswick: Just as a balance to my earlier cartoon:

Oh, I did enjoy The Great Brain when I was a kid. I fancied myself as a Great Brain back then too! :-)

>117 vancouverdeb: Hahaha didn't we all, Deb.

As aforementioned, The GAN is a subject of some interest, even among non-Americans. Is the identity of The Great (National) Novel debated in other countries?

>119 booksaplenty1949: Funny you should say that because I recently asked one of our Canadian number what they would choose as the Great Canadian Novel.
My favourite novel by a Canadian doesn't really qualify as A Fine Balance is about India.

I think that the GAN was a search for self to some extent but I do often think about what is the greatest British novel:

https://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/174/page/2

RD may not be happy but Dickens' oeuvre must be well represented, Woolf, Eliot, Austen, the Brontes. Tolkien, Greene, Hardy and Maugham.

>120 PaulCranswick: If a Great (National) Novel explores themes relevant to the nation’s sense of identity there are probably more Great Canadian Novels in French than English: Maria Chapdelaine, Trente Arpents, and Les Plouffe come to mind. Two Solitudes explores the French/English split memorably (in English).
British novelists you mention are great, for the most part (Maugham called himself “the best of the second-raters,” and don’t even get me started about Tolkien) but not notably concerned with what it meant to be “British” as opposed to just being human. Dickens might be the exception to this generalisation.

Apropos of Moby Dick in the GAN context, it’s a great novel, and it’s American, but when I last read it I felt it had more in common with King Lear than it did with the novels exploring American identity we have been discussing. Melville’s The Confidence Man is probably not of the same artistic calibre, but its theme is quintessentially American.

>121 booksaplenty1949: Not really familiar with French Canadian authors but interestingly the person whom I asked is French Canadian and chose a book by Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.

>122 booksaplenty1949: I haven't read it but I have seen it in so many Great American Novel lists.

>123 PaulCranswick: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams may be a very worthwhile book, although I’ve never heard of it, but Newfoundland has only been part of Canada since 1949. Before that it was a separate colony, briefly a Dominion.

>124 booksaplenty1949: I don't see that that would disqualify it though. We aren't stuck with the original twelves colonies looking for a book for America.

Couldn't resist this one:



RONALD McDONALD set for the Oval Office.

>125 PaulCranswick: No, but I would be surprised if a candidate for The GAN was set in Hawaii. And even Hawaii was a US dependancy for a hundred years. Newfoundland was an entirely separate country.

>126 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, that gave me a really good laugh!

>125 PaulCranswick: No, but I would be surprised if a candidate for The GAN was set in Hawaii. And even Hawaii was a US dependancy for a hundred years before achieving statehood. Newfoundland was a separate country going back to the 16thC with a very different history from mainland Canada.

BOOK #99



Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
Date of Publication : 1952
Origin of Author : UK (Via Iran and Rhodesia)
Gender of Author : Female
Pages : 333 pp
Challenges : 150Y Challenge

Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for Literature. She didn't win it for this book.

Not at all terrible but, for what is very obviously an autobiographical novel, she creates a strangely unlikable eponymous character.

The book is not without its merit but the 300 plus pages dragged a fair bit.

>127 booksaplenty1949: I am not well enough informed about the geography and history specific to Canada in order to comment very meaningfully but two Canadians both seemed happy enough with the choice.

>128 atozgrl: I thought it was amusing too, Irene.

>129 booksaplenty1949: Well I do see that a book specifically about Hawaii may not feel that representative of the contiguous USA.

>132 PaulCranswick: The musical Come From Away takes its title from a Newfie expression for those not born there, and it certainly includes those from elsewhere in Canada. It’s another country.

>130 PaulCranswick: When Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in 1954, The Old Man and the Sea was specifically praised. His weakest book, IMHO, and that’s being polite. I have to assume that the Nobel Prizes in the sciences are merited because I have no capacity to evaluate the candidates, but I am qualified to say that many (most?) of the Nobel committee’s literary choices are truly baffling.

Hey, Paul. Just checking in. I am still making it through my music collection. I just started the "G"s and I am currently listening to the Gang of Four. Another terrific Brit band. Very influential.

>126 PaulCranswick: I love it!

>133 booksaplenty1949: I guess that Terra Nova and Labrador have gotten themselves integrated pretty well for two Canadians in the group to both think a book about there best reflects their literature.

>134 booksaplenty1949: I remember quite liking The Old Man and the Sea even though it is a slight thing. I suppose it is the equivalent of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and I much prefer the latter.

>135 msf59: Hi Mark. From my home town as well. Yes a great band but a pretty angry one too!

I could not pick the best Canadian novel, I'm afraid Paul. Too many come to mind.

Here in Holland nobody even thinks about the Great Dutch Novel. And what’s best? It so depends on personal preferences. And the question of what is typical dutch is a dangerous one at the moment.

I’ve just finished Life and Fate. My vote to that one for the great Russian novel.

Checking in on you, Paul, and wanted to let you know I am back home now. . .

Happy whatever!

>138 vancouverdeb: My favourite novel by a Canadian, I can choose fairly easily and that would be A Fine Balance but best Canadian novel I would probably pick The Orenda.

>139 EllaTim: Yes, I know what you mean Ella - the Nationalism inherent in choosing such a book might be open to abuse but I don't think that an appeal to culture should be viewed in a negative light. My personal favourite would probably be The Assault by Harry Mulisch but I am not hugely well read in Dutch literature.

>140 alcottacre: Lovely to see you back, Juana.
I will be off shortly to your thread to catch up on how you fared whilst away.

>142 PaulCranswick: Suffice to say that I had a great time in Joplin, despite the lack of sleep, and am now recuperated from the trip.

Happy whatever!

Hi Paul = Interesting discussions on the Great XXX Novel (GOATs?). I'm also appreciative of the link posted for the discussion of the GAN - there are several I haven't read. Definitely hard choices; much like asking one who is their favorite child.

>143 alcottacre: Certainly got me interested in Joplin and it goes on the bucket list for when Hani and I get Stateside.

>144 streamsong: I have a few on the shelves that I haven't yet gotten to from that list, Janet, and I hope to knock off one or two of them by the end of the year.

It would of course be grossly offensive to equate The Diary of Anne Frank with a novel but it is by far the all-time best-selling book originally written in Dutch and a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the history of the 20thC. As I mentioned before, I think a Great (National) Work must explore, with literary excellence, being human in the context of the country in question. I will put in another plug for Turbott Wolfe, a novel set in South Africa, as a contender for Great South African Novel, although I am sure there would be votes for Cry, the Beloved Country.

>146 booksaplenty1949: I would have thought that the most votes would go to:

The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
Max Havelaar by Multatuli
Rituals by Cees Nooteboom
The Darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans
The Evenings by Gerard Reve
The Black Lake by Hella S Haase

for South Africa my favourites are Rumours of Rain by Andre Brink, Disgrace by JM Coetzee, July's People by Nadine Gordimer and The Promise by Damon Galgut but I would agree that Cry, the Beloved Country must be THE South African novel.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365276

>145 PaulCranswick: I would love to see you and Hani at a Joplin meet up, Paul!

Happy whatever!

>148 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver

>149 alcottacre: One fine day, Stasia. One fine day.

Saturday lunchtime additions

257. Geneva by Richard Armitage
258. The Wrong Woman by J.P. Pomare
259. The Silence of the Choir by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
260. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Kerry's thread has got me looking at Antipodean thrillers and I added two today. Richard Armitage is a favourite actor of mine so I'll be interested to see how he makes out as a writer of thrillers. Sarr won the Prix Goncourt for this one.

Annual used book sale for which I volunteer is now going on. Although I help sort and pack donations all through the year and thus have an opportunity to buy ahead of time (obviously my motivation for generously donating my time), I still saw some previously unnoticed items I could not resist. Added a nice unread copy of How I Found Livingston in Central Africa to my “The Nile” tag, an interest spiked by an Everyman copy of Speke’s Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile which I bought at this sale many years ago solely for its pristine leather binding but which led me down a path of discovery almost as convoluted as Speke’s. Books are the best!

Hope all is well, Paul. Have a wonderful weekend!

>152 booksaplenty1949: Books of discovery! We can discover something from most books can we not? My range of interests has broadened greatly over the years by sometimes fairly random reading choices.

>153 DianaNL: Lovely to see you, Diana.

Finished WAR AND PEACE.
Count Leo would feel deep sadness and immense fury at the horror that Russia delivers today.

>155 m.belljackson: Quite an achievement, Marianne. It is on my bucket list too. I think all right minded people would have similar sentiments as to Russia these days. I think that the West should have tried to do more to broker peace but that does not in any way excuse Russia/Putin's behaviour.

>156 PaulCranswick: The list of what The West should have done and still should do goes around the world and back again,
concluding for awhile with:
"Why do so many American Men Hate Women So Much that they would instead vote for a Monstrous Piece of Stinking Dung?"

>157 m.belljackson: We’ve had our disagreements in the past but on this one it’s “Alleluia! I hear you, Sister.”

>156 PaulCranswick: My sorting section at the Book Sale is hardcover literary fiction, and I have discovered that we can sell as many copies of War and Peace as I can get my hands on, also Ulysses. Also Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and Love Story, but these are sentimental choices, while the two former are aspirational.

>157 m.belljackson: Two slightly different subjects, Marianne, but if Kamala loses and I think she will win, it will be because of her own choice in men. Her pick for VEEP took her from looking a nailed on winner to seeing the election being too close to call.

>158 booksaplenty1949: I just wish there were better candidates available to voters everywhere. My own party in the UK is finally in power again but our leadership is making a complete hash of things. I look at our front bench of Starmer and his deputy and I shudder. Watching Obama on the campaign trail makes one nostalgic for a time when politicians were obviously Presidential material.

>159 booksaplenty1949: Astonishing isn't it that people more probably purchase books without anything other than the vaguest notion of reading a book, but because it looks good there?. Fine from someone with 5,000 unread books on my shelves I guess!

Post >159 booksaplenty1949: was the 7,000th on my threads this year and I wish to say a very big thank you to everyone who has visited here and posted this year and an apology to anyone who I may have inadvertently offended or upset in any way in this year or any other.

>162 PaulCranswick: Legitimate concerns about toxic social media are out there, but I feel grateful every day that I can share thoughts about books, grandchildren, whatever, with people I’ve never met who live thousands of miles away. I believe such experiences put us in touch with the deepest meaning of being human.

>160 PaulCranswick: Reaction of most Democrats to Kamala's VP choice ranged from jaw-dropping to unprintable.

>163 booksaplenty1949: Me too. I may not always agree with my friends, although I do most times, but my friends they are and shall remain and I like this safe space to discuss most topics that I am passionate about.

>164 m.belljackson: I am getting a little concerned with her campaign. I thought she handily won the debate and I thought she did OK in the Fox interview but she needs to give more substance than slogans. It may be enough (and many would say it should be enough) to win on the dangers of electing your opponent, but I would hope that there was more positivity in her messaging. Instead it is getting darker.

>151 PaulCranswick: Yeah for Antipodean crime splurge. I'm currently reading Scotland with the latest Rebus novel, good reading...and I learn about new music to me from Rankin. Strawberry Switchblade & Bert Jansch have both been listened to yesterday. I have another couple of Aussie crime being lined up - Christian White's The Ledge & the latest Chris Hammer, The Valley.

Matt Haig's The Life Impossible also spun some oldie music and I did enjoy revisiting Freddie Mercury singing Barcelona with Montserrat Caballé. His book is set on Ibiza and he's very familiar with the music scene there.
I had been hoping to read My family and other rock stars by Tiffany Murray but ran out of time before the library wanted it back.

The US Elections is interesting to watch from the sidelines, no further comment.

>166 avatiakh: Kerry, I have been at it again as you'll see from my next post, amongst other additions anyway.

Christian White I had a look for but it isn't available here.

I was just thinking of what to listen to whilst reading this afternoon and you have given me some prods with classical. I think I'll enjoy me some Rimsky-Korsakov and some Yehudi Menuhin violin stuff.

The US Elections are interesting but depressing at the same time.

I'm just finishing up The Hiding Place and it is very good.

More additions this brunch time:

261. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
262. Box 88 by Charles Cumming
263. The Safe Place by Anna Downes
264. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths
265. Editor by Max Hastings
266. The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes
267. The Fury by Alex Michaelides
268. Gateway by Frederik Pohl
269. Good Girl Bad Girl by Michael Robotham
270. The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux

Three more Antipodean crime books, another Theroux travel book, the next book in line in the Ruth Galloway series, plus a few more that caught my eye.

Congratulations on the 7000, my friend.
I have little chance of keeping up with your pace, but I try.
Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thank you, Thomas. It is mainly due to visits from my friends that the numbers are high, Thomas. I am truly blessed.

Happy belated new thread, Paul! I've been very busy winterizing my home and yard and I think I'll be able to get back into the swing of things here on LT now that I have more leisure time.
Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

>171 Carmenere: Lovely to see you, Lynda. All is well over here as nothing changes much.....all the politicians are pretty much the same here, disappointingly.....work still rules most of my waking hours.......books are still getting added more than they get read..........family still being missed but hopefully I will see them all soon.

>158 booksaplenty1949: books- Yes, it is welcome to have any happy Common Ground as fears heighten for this election!

(As for our disagreements:

1. I would not feel insulted, attacked, hurt or unkindly treated if some LT wrote "America Invaded Vietnam."

2. As well, the words from Nihon Hidankyo, the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winners, survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima,
contrast with our decision to drop Atom bombs.
Hibakusha. Amen.)

>173 m.belljackson: Yes common ground is good.
As I understand it Nihon Hidankyo do/did good work advocating for the survivors of the Bomb and its various tests but some of their aims are wishful impossibility because it seeks to unknow the already unknown. How can one abolish nuclear weapons without unlearning the technology?
The aim surely must be to lobby against militarism and nation state aggression?

BOOK #100



The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Date of Publication : 1971
Origin of Author : Netherlands
Gender of Author : Female
Pages : 221 pp
Challenges : 150Y Challenge / War Room

A story of how the weak can be strong.

Cruelty, barbarism and hatred overcome by faith and forgiveness. How every thing under God has its own ineluctable purpose.

A book that will surely stay with me a long time.

>174 PaulCranswick: Moving from your "unknown" to ask Nihon Hidankyo to accomplish the impossible...

>176 m.belljackson: Yes indeed they are trying to achieve the impossible but their importance is in keeping the existential dangers of nuclear conflict to the fore and in the public's psyche.

Seems to be poking fun at both of them!

>175 PaulCranswick: I loved that book. I read it many years ago, and yes, it has stayed with me all this time.

>179 atozgrl: It is a lovely book, Irene. I don't know if you remember the bit about the fleas which I thought was wonderfully done?

Corrie Ten Boom came to my college & spoke at our chapel service (probably around 1978), a wizened old woman by then, but her presentation was compelling - it stands out in my mind all these years later.

Paul - when you read WAR AND PEACE, find an edition, like the "Norton Critical" one that has
the nearly 100 pages of Criticism at the end: Lenin and Henry James; egad.

>182 m.belljackson: I found that reading Ulysses along with a “reader’s guide” added a lot to my understanding of a modernist novel with a complex artistic agenda of literary reference. But War and Peace, long as it is, is still a 19thC realist novel intent on telling a story. Apart from some historical background I don’t think you need a lot of critical apparatus to enjoy it.

>183 booksaplenty1949: No, not needed to enjoy the book, Wild and Varied Criticism comes after the intense reading and expands it via the contradictory pronouncements.

I could not get past the nose thing in Ulysses and gave up early.

>181 ChrisG1: I would have liked to have met her, Chris. Remarkable bravery and really compelling is her story of the supreme power of genuine faith.

>182 m.belljackson: I have two copies of War and Peace and one of them certainly has introductions and afterwords.

>183 booksaplenty1949: Yes I would have thought that historical context would certainly be worthwhile to the general reader.

>184 m.belljackson: Ulysses is a magnificent book, Marianne, but you need to get attuned to it and it certainly needs more explaining than a book that thrives on sheer narration.

>186 PaulCranswick: I read it several times over the years and then suddenly it occurred to me that it was episodes from The Odyssey retold in various literary styles. Duh. Let’s take it again from the top. James Joyce’s Ulysses: A Study, Joyce’s Ulysses, and The Bloomsday Book led me anew through the novel. Frankly I think that there are other approaches to literature, but I feel better and stronger for having plumbed Joyce’s project. Wish I could read War and Peace in Russian, but it turns out it’s in a different alphabet. ☹️ My attempt to learn Hebrew revealed that this is a non-starter for me. Know your limits.

>187 booksaplenty1949: I agree that Ulysses rewards research but it can also be enjoyed for its sheer word play. Finnegan's Wake on the other hand is a great song but an almost indecipherable book - I think it is probably the toughest book I have tried to read.
On languages, I did learn Malay to some proficiency but they do now use the same alphabet with some slightly varied pronunciation. The earlier alphabet "jawi" which is similar to Arabic I also learned but am a bit rusty with. Arabic I learned to read and can manage ok.

Stopping by to hi, Paul.

>180 PaulCranswick: Yes, I do. That was a very vivid scene, and one of the things I remember best about the book. I really need to read it again. >185 PaulCranswick: Agreed Paul, a wonderful story about faith and the courage it can give people to do good.

>181 ChrisG1: I would have loved to hear her speak in person.

Checking in on you, brother. I hope all is well there.

Happy whatever!

>188 PaulCranswick: I’m impressed.
I gather some of the former Soviet Socialist Republics plan to change from the Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet—as a political gesture, I assume. Like Ukraine abandoning the Julian calendar’s date for Christmas.

The November BAC thread is up.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365368

>189 vancouverdeb: Hi right back at you, Deb.

>190 atozgrl: It is one of those books to reread for sure, Irene.

>191 alcottacre: Too busy, Juana. Hani is back in Yorkshire after a week in Albania.

>192 booksaplenty1949: It is funny isn't it that the stronger Putin is perceived to be the more his former satellites are distancing from him.

>193 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda.

>146 booksaplenty1949: Good choice, I think Anne wanted to be a writer. The diary is not a novel but it is well written. There is a good reason why so many (young) people have read it.

>147 PaulCranswick: From these my favorite would be Max Havelaar.

>187 booksaplenty1949: Learning a new alphabet: I took Greek in school, found the alphabet surprisingly hard to learn! It’s like the brain refuses an extra set.

>188 PaulCranswick: So kudos to you Paul. The arabic alphabet looks hard to learn, and speaking malay also!

>197 EllaTim: Actually, Ella, I don't think Malay is a terribly difficult language to master in spoken form. Arabic is pretty tough and took me a long time to get the hang of the alphabet. Korean modern alphabetic script I can also read but not understand.

It is fair to say that the Labour government's first budget seems to have been poorly received. As a member of the party, I am extremely disturbed at some of their spending priorities and especially the ham fisted removal of the fuel allowance from pensioners.

Albania looked like a great place to visit, from Hani's photos. I guess you have warm weather there, Ours isn't' bad, around 10 C today, but we did have a lot of rain.

>200 vancouverdeb: Yes, it did look like a great place to visit, Deb, didn't it?
Malaysia is around 33 C every day but almost always rains at some stage.

Friday lunchtime additions:

271. The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
272. The Walled Garden by Sarah Hardy
273. Anecdotal Evidence by Wendy Cope
274. The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi
275. The Gathering by CJ Tudor

The November War Room Challenge thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/365431

We will be in the trenches of Picardy as it is the "GREAT WAR".

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/365438

>11 PaulCranswick: The Between is excellent! I read it last month for my "Month of Scary Stories".

>204 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver

>205 ocgreg34: The opening sections are good, Greg.