Reading the 20th Century discussion
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Books you have yet to read but which you are really looking forward to
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The title alone is enough to capture my interest.
I read about it in Saturday's Guardian. Iain Sinclair reviewed it. You can read his review here...
http://www.ourdailyread.com/2018/02/a...
Here's the book's blurb...
Deep in a wood in the Marches of Wales, in an ancient school bus there lives an old man called Bob Rowberry.
A Hero for High Times is the story of how he ended up in this broken-down bus. It's also the story of his times, and the ideas that shaped him. It's a story of why you know your birth sign, why you have friends called Willow, why sex and drugs and rock’n’roll once mattered more than money, why dance music stopped the New-Age Travellers from travelling, and why you need to think twice before taking the brown acid.
It's the story of the hippies for those who weren't there – for Younger Readers who've never heard of the Aldermaston marches, Oz, the Angry Brigade, the Divine Light Mission, Sniffin' Glue, Operation Julie, John Seymour, John Michell, Greenham Common, the Battle of the Beanfield, but who want to understand their grandparents’ stories of turning on, tuning in and not quite dropping out before they are gone for ever. It's for Younger Readers who want to know how to build a bender, make poppy tea, and throw the I-Ching.
And it's a story of friendship between two men, one who did things, and one who thought about things, between theory and practice, between a hippie and a punk, between two gentlemen, no longer in the first flush of youth, who still believe in love.
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Dense but utterly compelling trawl through British post-war counter-culture, taking as the centre and inspiration of its broad sweep the figure of Bob Rowberry, Marchant’s near neighbour and van-dweller in the remote, ley-lined and somewhat magical county of Radnorshire, in the Welsh Marches. Since the turn of the sixties, as Marchant was to discover, Rowberry had - in cultural terms - been there, done it, but neglected to get the teeshirt, because these were the days when counter-culture was about more than slogans and symbols on teeshirts, their meaning long forgotten.
Bob makes for an articulate witness to the key movements and players of the 60s and 70s, having attended the events and enthusiastically participated in the activities most important to the subset of the population that wasn't concerned with a respectable job, a nice house and a new car every three years, who were more interested in turning on, tuning in and dropping out, who delighted in experimentation with rare herbs, pharmaceuticals and free love, who thought nothing of heading out to the Indian sub-continent in barely serviceable vehicles, who enjoyed lives without maps (far less sat-nav). To be alive and young then was, if not quite very heaven, at least rich with the potential to make something unique of your life, and many took full advantage.
Marchant expertly weaves Bob’s story with his own experience of growing up in a rapidly changing 70s and 80s Britain, provides insight on the movements and the remarkable movers and shakers of the day, and reflects, movingly and at length, on how different the world is for today’s young people. He’s captured a vital thread in British culture while the leading players and their memories are still available, and we owe him a debt of thanks.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hero-High-Ti...
There are too many to mention them all, including at least six books originally written in French which I want to read, preferably in translation. I have finally got around to Binet's The 7th Function of Language and will try to write a sensible review some time.I have the new Hollinghurst The Sparsholt Affair, which is certain to be good, plus The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, which might be, and there will be a new Pessl in June Neverworld Wake, also mentioned in another thread, which might be a discuss-it buddy read.
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I hope so. I have it too.
I might well have my Moderator status revoked for exclusively revealing that it will be a Mod-led read later this year. Maybe even in June? OK, definitely in June.
#exciting
Far less highbrow, I'm really looking forward to the sequel to Shades of Grey, but as far as I can see it hasn't been written yet (and perhaps never will).
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A happy accident... my book club was reading "50 Shades of Gray," and it just so happens that I missed the gathering (sorry, gals!) where this was chosen. With that "50" left off the title and another incarnation of "gray" (specifically "grey"), I requested the wrong book from the library.
I'm so very happy I did. It's probably one of THE most imaginative books I've read in a very long while. I enjoyed it immensely. I completely expected to despise the reading experience as it's a dystopian read....
Rosina wrote: "Far less highbrow, I'm really looking forward to the sequel to Shades of Grey, but as far as I can see it hasn't been written yet (and perhaps never will)."I have a soft spot for Jasper Fforde, his books are inventive and fun.
Rosina wrote: "Far less highbrow, I'm really looking forward to the sequel to Shades of Grey, but as far as I can see it hasn't been written yet (and perhaps never will)."Me too! And the next Nursery Crimes book.
I just want to read books I own, but keep getting distracted with library books I don't own... Or looking at books I want... I'm really bad about looking for more when I have so many already... After Persephone books were mentioned here recently, I went down a wormhole of finding ones I still would like to read and making a list of them; I did something recently with NYRB books, too.
Val wrote: "Rosina wrote: "Far less highbrow, I'm really looking forward to the sequel to Shades of Grey, but as far as I can see it hasn't been written yet (and perhaps never will)."I have a s..."
They really are. I've read The Eyre Affair a number of times and the following one time less each (roughly. Each time a new one would come out I'd reread the previous ones). He really knows his stuff to be able to reference so many different things across all the books. They're really brilliant.
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Some books I really want to get around to reading (that currently lurk on my kindle, crying for attention) are:
Time of Hope
Beyond Black
One Hot Summer: Dickens, Darwin, Disraeli, and the Great Stink of 1858
The Long Drop
The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature
Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City
Memphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul
Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People
I feel my reading (and just how I select books from the to-read shelf) is a perennial conflict between three classes of books:(i) books that I need to read to keep up with discussions here
(ii) books that I want to read for myself
(iii) everything else (these have sometimes slipped from the other categories and sometimes I just picked them up because they looked interesting or because I have liked other books by the same writers.
Categories (i) and (ii) can overlap.
Just from my to-read (owned or ordered and on the way) I have:
In category (i) the entire Republic of Consciousness Prize shortlist
We That Are Young by Preti Taneja
Attrib. and other stories by Eley Williams
Gaudy Bauble by Isabel Waidner
Blue Self-Portrait by Noémi Lefebvre
Darker With The Lights On by David Hayden
Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz
one for a group discussion I am leading at 21st Century Literature next month:
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a few from category (ii) that I would like to get to soon:
As A God Might Be, Beastings, Lives of Girls and Women, A Dry White Season,
Homegoing, The Street of Crocodiles, The White Book and Midwinter Break
and the ones that have been sitting on the shelf (iii) for longest:
Train Dreams, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind, Nutshell, Fludd, Thus Bad Begins
I need more hours in the day!
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(i) books that I need to read to keep up with discussions here
(ii) books that I want to read for myself
(iii) everything else (these have sometimes slipped from the other categories and sometimes I just picked them up because they looked interesting or because I have liked other books by the same writers).
Categories (i) and (ii) can overlap."
Sums up my own situation too Hugh :-)
Perhaps we should all take occasional reading group sabbaticals to catch up on (ii) and (iii)?
On the other hand, by being part of this group I get to read lots of books that would have passed me by and which, usually, I am glad I've read.
#swingsandroundabouts
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So, what is it....?
'Words Best Sung' by Lee Stuart Evans
Loads of good reviews on Amazon, here's one...
Echoes of Alan Sillitoe with colloquial language in parts reminiscent of another great local Nottinghamshire author DH Lawrence, this story is delightfully engaging from the start. It is so very well written it must rank as a new literary classic already. The characters are keenly observed and beautifully written, with their story at times moving, funny, and always absorbing. I imagined the main character, Alastair as a dashing young Terrence Stamp, and the beautiful Charlotte as an equally gorgeous Julie Christie. It is a wonderful coming of age story, where the main characters must choose between the head or the heart, a decision we all face at some point in our lives. Mr Evans is clearly an immensely talented writer, as the quality of this writing shines from every page. It is crying out to be dramatised & would make for great viewing. Very highly recommended.
- Jonathan Nicholas - TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Lee Stuart Evans was born at Chesterfield and grew up in north Nottinghamshire.
A full-time comedy writer since 2002, he's written for many hit TV and radio shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, The Jonathan Ross Show, The Frank Skinner Show, 10 O’clock Live, A League of Their Own, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Live At The Apollo, and many more.
Words Best Sung is his first novel and has received the following nice comments:
"I very much enjoyed this debut novel. If you're a fan of Billy Liar, going down to London and the Kinks, so will you" - Andy Miller, author 'The Year of Reading Dangerously'.
"Hilarious, touching, romantic...a really cracking read" - Sally Lindsay
"Cracking debut...plenty of laugh-out-loud lines...will be loved by anyone with a fondness for the Swinging Sixties" - John Baird, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature
"A lovely, heartfelt story" - Dave Johns, star of the Ken Loach Bafta and Palme d'Or-winning film, I, Daniel Blake.
"So evocative and lovingly written" - Nat Luurtsema, author "Girl Out of Water".
"A love-letter to Nottinghamshire" - Chloe Campbell, Left Lion magazine
“A nostalgic coming of age novel that’ll transport you back to the Sixties” - NottsLit blog
LISTEN to the Words Best Sung soundtrack, featuring some of the great sixties tunes (plus Richard Hawley) from the book:
https://open.spotify.com/user/1119197...
'Words Best Sung' by Lee Stuart Evans
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http://fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/event...
Here's an interview with the author...
https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2017/...
...which suggests it was out in March 2017
Certainly seems to be newish.
By the by, yours for £1.99 on Kindle
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Andy Miller mentioned 'Words Best Sung' by Lee Stuart Evans
The book they were actually discussing was The Town House by Norah Lofts which sounds absolutely superb. I will be reading it. The guest was Lucy Mangan (she of Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading fame). It's a great listen however - be warned - you will want to read The Town House by Norah Lofts (part one of a trilogy)
https://soundcloud.com/backlistedpod
Norah Lofts was a natural-born storyteller, and nowhere is this more evident than in her Town House trilogy, which covers nearly 700 years in the history of one house in a Suffolk town (based on Bury St Edmunds). I've read so many historical saga's where the author makes heavy weather of history, and often sacrifices characters to the great events he/she is writing about. Lofts though tells her story in the first-person through the eyes of a diverse set of characters, five in all, and she is at ease in each one, and each has a fascinating tale to tell. Most of the book revolves around the life of Martin Reed, who, as a young man breaks away from serfdom when the lord of the manor forbids him to marry the girl he loves. With her he escapes to the market town of Baildon, and there endures many terrible hardships before a chance stroke of fate enables him to set up as a wool merchant. It is he who builds the Town House, or the House At Old Vine, as it is also known, and thus begins the long history of the house and its motley line of inhabitants.
This book roughly covers from the late 14th century to the 1440s, (the second two in the trilogy cover a couple of hundred years apiece),and each page brings vivid imagery of the late Medieval era to life. Lofts shows a deep understanding of life and all the diverse (and sometimes irrational) things which motivate people to act the way they do. She shows an era which was colourful, but intensely hard for most who lived it, and she never makes the fatal flaw of trying to put a modern-day slant on the way her characters think and behave. Lofts is a writer much-loved by her fans, and when you read the House trilogy you will see why.
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Salt Lane
by one of my favourite authors and The Seventh Cross
A new edition by Virago.
'At once a suspenseful manhunt story and a knowing portrait of the perils of ordinary life in Hitler's Germany, The Seventh Cross is not only an important novel, but an important historical document. This new, unabridged translation is a genuine publishing event' JOSEPH KANON, author of The Good German and Leaving Berlin
Seven prisoners escape from Westhofen concentration camp. Seven crosses are erected in the grounds and the commandant vows to capture the fugitives within a week. Six men are caught quickly, but George Heisler slips through his pursuers' fingers and it becomes a matter of pride to track him down, no matter what.
The net is closing in. Who can George trust? Who will betray him? The years of fear have changed those he knew best: his favourite brother is now an SS officer; his lover turns him away. Hunted, injured and desperate, time is running out for George, and whoever helps him will pay with their life.
The Seventh Cross is a novel that powerfully documents the insidious rise of a fascist regime - the seething paranoia, the sudden arrests, the silence and fear. It has never before been published in the UK.
'It was [Seghers] who taught my generation and anyone who had an ear to listen after that not-to-be-forgotten war to distinguish right from wrong. The Seventh Cross shaped me; it sharpened my vision' - Gunter Grass
'The material that this book is made from is long-lasting and indestructible; very few things on earth can be compared to it. It is known as justice' - Christa Wolf
The Seventh Cross was written by one of the most important German writers of the twentieth century. Her aim was to write, 'A tale that makes it possible to get to know the many layers of fascist Germany through the fortunes of a single man.' She had four copies of the manuscript: one was destroyed in an air raid; a friend lost the second copy while fleeing the Nazis; another was found by the Gestapo; only the fourth copy, survived, which, fortunately, she sent to her publisher in America just before she fled Nazi-occupied France. Published in 1942, The Seventh Cross became an immediate bestseller, was made into an MGM film starring Spencer Tracy in 1944, and was one of the only depictions of concentration camps on page and screen during the War.
Always interesting to read novels written at the time.
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'Rex v Edith Thompson' by Laura Thompson
...which sounds very intriguing and I think would appeal to many in this group. I will be reading it.
When Edith Thompson was 29 years old, she was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband. A month later she was hanged. 'Rex v Edith Thompson' is her story.
It was mentioned on the most recent episode of Backlisted Podcast (a discussion about the magnificent 'The Lowlife' by Alexander Baron).
Back to 'Rex v Edith Thompson', Laura Thompson (no relation) notes that there have been several previous books about the case, including a 1934 novel which in turn inspired Sarah Waters’s 'The Paying Guests' (another wonderful novel that I loved).
Two things make this reassessment timely: one is Thompson’s focus on conditions for women, which were improving but often still wretched (Edith was beaten and coerced into sex by her husband but divorce was still out of reach for a woman of her class); the other is that this is the first book to be written with full access to Home Office files closed under the 100-year rule.
The evidence that made the case such a sensation retains its power today — an extraordinary cache of love letters written by Edith to Freddy during their 18-month affair. It was their contents on which the case for the prosecution was built.
Thompson makes extensive use of these letters to paint a picture of Edith as a proto-modern woman, not highly educated (she left school at 15) but free-spirited and ambitious. She earned more than her husband, had no particular desire for children and wrote in a shamelessly sensual way to her younger lover.
All these things counted heavily against her when she came up against the law and public opinion (Rebecca West dismissed her as “a shocking little piece of rubbish” — indeed, no female voice spoke up for her). Edith was also a woman of vivid imagination, “a natural-born writer” Thompson calls her, and it was the fantasies she expressed in her letters about killing her husband that ultimately condemned her.
But it was Freddy who confronted Edith and Percy as they walked home on that fatal night, and Freddy alone who stabbed Percy to death. Thompson is persuasive in her argument that Edith knew nothing of his plan and that her conviction under the law of common purpose was a miscarriage of justice of the most iniquitous kind.
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Deffo Susan. I have just ordered a copy from my library service. Their one copy appears to be on the shelves in another branch which means I should have it in about a week.
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Susan wrote: "Cecil Beaton's diaries are being released on kindle. Vols 1 and 2 already available, beginning with The Wandering Years: 1922-39. I have meant to read these for some time - poor Cec..."Thanks for the heads up. I just ordered the first two volumes and await the third.
The commentary on my dvd of My Fair Lady does not include very kind comments about him from people who worked with/under him. Apparently always taking all the credit.
But sounds interesting.
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Nigeyb wrote: "I'll let you know when it arrives. I'll have to read it fairly quickly though as it will have to be returned within three weeks."
Susan wrote: "OK, I will start it next week, hopefully :)"
I've got the book now so have set up the buddy reads thread....
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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Rosina wrote: "Far less highbrow, I'm really looking forward to the sequel to Shades of Grey, but as far as I can see it hasn't been written yet (and perhaps never will)."Not the Shades of Grey sequel, but he just announced a new book for later this year, Early Riser! I'm excited even though it's not the nwe book I was hoping for.
http://www.jasperfforde.com/riser/ris...
Yay Susan! I've really been craving a new Shardlake.
Have just preordered the new Shardlake too, very excited!
Susan wrote: "Very excited at pre-ordering the next Shardlake novel today:http://www.cjsansom.com/Homepage"
Great news ! Now I can read Lamentation, which I have been putting off so I could have one more to read.
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Susan wrote: "Cecil Beaton's diaries are being released on kindle. Vols 1 and 2 already available, beginning with The Wandering Years: 1922-39. I have meant to read these for some time - poor Cec..."I think almost everyone was bullied by Evelyn Waugh, other than perhaps Nancy Mitford. Brideshead is one of my absolute top favourite books, but Waugh is pretty grim in person. I read a lot of biographies, diaries and letters of that era (various Mitfords, Patrick Leigh Fermor, etc) and he doesn't come across very well in any of them.
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The 'new' Bernie Gunther has been announced.
Metropolis: Bernie Gunther 14
Out April 2019
Berlin detective Bernie Gunther returns in the 14th book of the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling series, perfect for fans of John le Carre and Robert Harris.
'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD
'One of the greatest master story-tellers in English' ALAN FURST
Berlin, 1928, the dying days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler and the Nazis came to power. It was a period of decadence and excess as Berliners - after the terrible slaughter of WWI and the hardships that followed - are enjoying their own version of Babylon. Bernie is a young detective working in Vice when he gets a summons from Bernard Weiss, Chief of Berlin's Criminal Police. He invites Bernie to join KIA - Criminal Inspection A - the supervisory body for all homicide investigation in Kripo. Bernie's first task is to investigate the Silesian Station killings - four prostitutes murdered in as many weeks. All of them have been hit over the head with a hammer and then scalped with a sharp knife.
Bernie hardly has time to acquaint himself with the case files before another prostitute is murdered. Until now, no one has shown much interest in these victims - there are plenty in Berlin who'd like the streets washed clean of such degenerates. But this time the girl's father runs Berlin's foremost criminal ring, and he's prepared to go to extreme lengths to find his daughter's killer.
Then a second series of murders begins - of crippled wartime veterans who beg in the city's streets. It seems that someone is determined to clean up Berlin of anyone less than perfect. The voice of Nazism is becoming a roar that threatens to drown out all others. But not Bernie Gunther's ...
I am unsure whether to cheer or sob...
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Indeed.
Bittersweet.
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which I am really looking forward to. The story of Catholic Emancipation begins with the violent Anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in 1780, fuelled by the reduction in Penal Laws against the Roman Catholics harking back to the sixteenth century. Some fifty years later, the passing of the Emancipation Bill was hailed as a 'bloodless revolution'.
Had the Irish Catholics been a 'millstone', as described by an English aristocrat, or were they the prime movers? While the English Catholic aristocracy and the Irish peasants and merchants approached the Catholic Question in very different ways, they manifestly shared the same objective.
Antonia Fraser brings colour and humour to the vivid drama with its huge cast of characters: George III, who opposed Emancipation on the basis of the Coronation Oath; his son, the indulgent Prince of Wales, who was enamoured with the Catholic Maria Fitzherbert before the voluptuous Lady Conyngham; Wellington and the 'born Tory' Peel vying for leadership; 'roaring' Lord Winchilsea; the heroic Daniel O'Connell. Expertly written and deftly argued, The King and Catholics is also a distant mirror of our times, reflecting the political issues arising from religious intolerance.
(i) books that I need to read to keep up with discussions here(ii) books that I want to read for myself
(iii) everything else (these have sometimes slipped from the other categories and sometimes I just picked them up because they looked interesting or because I have liked other books by the same writers.
All of the books I read - at least in the last several years - have been read because they fit a task in my challenge group. That said, it's rare that a place cannot be found for almost any book, so I use it mostly to help me choose which books to read next. For example, I did not even have your August read, The Grand Babylon Hotel on any wish list. But I have read Arnold Bennet and have most happily found a spot for this.
In addition to the Bennett, my upcoming plans to the end of August include a couple of Agatha Christie's (one, another group read I've found a slot for), Summer Will Show, At Mrs Lippincote's, and I'm finishing up an Annie Proulx collection Close Range.
I'm very interested in the Sylvia Townsend Warner, though I have not read her before. A few years back I read Zola's Les Rougon-Marquart series, which begins with the 1848-49 Revolution. I'm interested in getting another take. It happily fits a slot in my 20th Century women challenge. The Elizabeth Taylor is for another group I've just joined who will be reading her 12 novels over the course of year. I have not read her before, but I believe she is one I should have been reading and will gladly rectify the omission. I just like Annie Proulx. Her insight into a class of people that doesn't often find its way to print appeals to me.
I always have plans for more than I can read. I am a slow reader, but being retired can spend a bit more time than most. I have others I will read between now and the end of August, but hesitate to commit to paper exactly which ones.
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Dear Mr Murray: Letters to a Gentleman Publisher
The publishing house of John Murray was founded in Fleet Street in 1768 and remained a family firm over seven generations. Published to coincide with this remarkable achievement' and in the anniversary year, Dear Mr Murray is a collection of some of the best letters from the hundreds of thousands held in the John Murray Archive. They reveal not only the story of some of the most interesting and influential books in history, but also the remarkable friendships - as well as occasional animosities - between author and publisher, as well as readers, editors, printers and illustrators.
Despite the incredible number of letters that were retained by the Murray family, some failed to arrive, others were delayed and some barely survived, but longevity added to the reputation and fame of John Murray and a correspondent in Canada who addressed his letter merely to 'John Murray, The World-wide famous Book & Publishing House, London, England' as early as 1932 could be confident that his letter would arrive.
Intended to entertain and inspire, and spanning more than 200 years, Dear Mr Murray is full of literary history and curiosities: from Charles Darwin's response to the negative reviews of On the Origin of Species to Adrian Conan Doyle challenging Harold Nicolson to a duel for insulting his father in the press; from David Livingstone's displeasure at the proposed drawing of a lion to represent his near-death encounter in Missionary Travels to William Makepeace Thackeray apologising for his drunken behaviour; from Byron berating John Murray for being fooled by his girlfriend's forgery of his signature to the poet James Hogg so desperate for money that he claims he won't be able to afford a Christmas goose; and from Jane Austen expressing concern about printing delays to Patrick Leigh Fermor beseeching Jock Murray not to visit him until he'd completed A Time of Gifts.
I'm quite excited about the latest Kate Atkinson:Transcription. I've loved every book she's ever written so have high hopes for this one. I've requested an ARC from netgalley...fingers crossed.Elizabeth (Alaska), I discovered Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes a couple of years ago and it quickly became a favourite book.
Susan, Dear Mr Murray: Letters to a Gentleman Publisher sounds entertaining.
I'm looking forward to the next in the Cormoran Strike series Lethal White by Robert Galbraith which I've pre ordered.
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
Lolly Willowes (other topics)Clock Dance (other topics)
Lethal White (other topics)
Lolly Willowes (other topics)
Transcription (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Anne Tyler (other topics)Robert Galbraith (other topics)
Laura Thompson (other topics)
Lucy Mangan (other topics)
Andy Miller (other topics)
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Tell us what it is that attracts you to the book in question, and why you are looking forward to it.