What Book Are You Reading XV - The Pile Keeps Growing!

[EnglishEdward]

I don't think I've ever laid my hands on I, Claudius.

BBC did a good series of I, Claudius a few decades ago.

 

[Kyriakos]

More than just a few, I'm afraid.
I recall watching parts of it in the early 90s.
Google tells me it was filmed in 1976.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It was on PBS sometime around 1978 or so; I'd have to check my book collection, as I always used to record the date when I bought something, and I have both I, Claudius and Claudius the God.

This was one of those "sneak around the grandparents to watch" shows, as I was still a young teenager when I saw it. There's a bit of nudity in it.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

FINALLY finished  Zanoni. The writing was great, the story was a confused mess, the author is a most pompous fellow.
Re Lovecraft, his ideas are interesting but their actual execution is terrible. His stories are exciting at the beginning but simply bleh when the monsters finally arrive. And for all of Lovecraft's erudition and admiration for Poe his ideas and stories very rarely rise up above the sci-fi scene of the 40s-50s.
The reason I brought up Lovecraft is because some of the themes in Zanoni remind me of Lovecraft's ideas, just executed better. There is the mysterious Adon-Ai, a being of love and light, and (its counterpart?) the nameless veiled being, and a mysterious Populace of the Air (beings that inhabit the space between Earth and Heaven and act as a sort of intermediaries). It is the veiled being that is interesting; it is never named and there is a great deal of fuss over its face never being revealed to mortal eyes.

He stood and gazed,—it was no delusion. It spoke not, moved not, till, unable to bear longer that steady and burning look, he covered his face with his hands. With a start, with a thrill, he removed them; he felt the nearer presence of the nameless.

And then, as a wind from a charnel, was heard its voice. What it said, what revealed, it is forbidden the lips to repeat, the hand to record. Nothing save the subtle life that yet animated the frame to which the inhalations of the elixir had given vigour and energy beyond the strength of the strongest, could have survived that awful hour. Better to wake in the catacombs and see the buried rise from their cerements, and hear the ghouls, in their horrid orgies, amongst the festering ghastliness of corruption, than to front those features when the veil was lifted, and listen to that whispered voice!

“But, but,” continued Glyndon, with a whitening lip and a visible shudder, “at every attempt to rise into loftier existence, came that hideous form. It gloomed beside me at the easel. Before the volumes of poet and sage it stood with its burning eyes in the stillness of night, and I thought I heard its horrible whispers uttering temptations never to be divulged.”

the Nameless One guided him with the demon eyes to the sea whose waves were gore.

The French Revolution is the central backdrop for most of the book. There is some foreshadowing in the early chapters where the eponymous protagonist warns a group of Robespierre fans (this is before the Revolution has begun) in so many words that the lower class should never uproot the upper class. The Revolutionaries are characterised as small-minded, selfish, envious, brutal ruffians whilst the targets of the Revolutionaries are always lofty, gentle, caring, chivalrous, honourable and courageous. In fact, towards the end of the book when a character is thrown into jail and learns that inmates are not so terrible as they were lead to believe, it is not a moment of appreciation of the humanity of those whom society considers scroundels but actually the inmates are nobles which is why they are so nice. The author's constant promotion of inequality as a law can get quite infuriating:

And yet there, the reverence that comes from great emotions restored Nature’s first and imperishable, and most lovely, and most noble Law,—THE INEQUALITY BETWEEN MAN AND MAN!

She, who had hitherto been taught to abhor those whom Law condemns for crime, was amazed to hear that beings thus compassionate and tender, with cloudless and lofty brows, with gallant and gentle mien, were criminals for whom Law had no punishment short of death. But they, the savages, gaunt and menacing, who had dragged her from her home, who had attempted to snatch from her the infant while she clasped it in her arms, and laughed fierce scorn at her mute, quivering lips,—THEY were the chosen citizens, the men of virtue, the favourites of Power, the ministers of Law! Such thy black caprices, O thou, the ever-shifting and calumnious,—Human Judgment!

To end on an ironic (and prescient) note, there are annotations in my Gutenberg copy of the book (in between the actual text of the story, infuriatingly enough!) and the annotator seems to have chosen one passage that seems to go against the author's sentiments (context: a ludicrous scene in which a character declares that it has been proven that the Anglo-Saxons are descendants of the Ancient Greeks):

“You colonise the lands of the savage with the Anglo-Saxon,—you civilise that portion of THE EARTH; but is the SAVAGE civilised? He is exterminated! You accumulate machinery,—you increase the total of wealth; but what becomes of the labour you displace? One generation is sacrificed to the next. You diffuse knowledge,—and the world seems to grow brighter; but Discontent at Poverty replaces Ignorance, happy with its crust. Every improvement, every advancement in civilisation, injures some, to benefit others, and either cherishes the want of to-day, or prepares the revolution of to-morrow.”—Stephen Montague.

 

[Kyriakos]

Reread the Nose, by Gogol.
Kovalyov loses his nose, but more importantly the nose can rise higher in the social ranks than its former owner, which seems to imply he was literally defined by just one of his characteristics.
There is something phallic in the story - since Kobalyov is a ladies' man and is happy to smirk at some colleague who has a tiny nose - but ultimately the symbol isn't defined by the writer.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Well. What does Valka do when the computer fritzes and she's forced to spend a computerless day and night? (fortunately it was an easy fix at the repair shop and happened when the computer is still under warranty)

I read a book and a half. The half-book was the rest of the Highlander fanzine. The whole book was The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings. This yielded several pages of notes for the stories I'm working on, with suggestions for further research. I also wrote several handwritten pages for the stories I'm doing.

So it was a productive day and night yesterday. Mostly. I also discovered how awkward it is to read a historical atlas and make notes while simultaneously cuddling the cat.

 

[Josu]

Ended Collapse: how societies choose to fail ir succed. By Jared Diamond
Enjoyed some chapters, some other ones are just padding

Started Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

 

[Takhisis]

And here I'm on my second copy because the first one fell apart from too much re-reading...

It's actually the first of two books; the sequel is Claudius the God. The miniseries is based on both of them.

One interesting thing about it is that the dates used are AUC, as in reckoned from the founding of Rome. That's something to have to get used to. Since these are Claudius' memoirs, naturally he reckons in the Roman way, rather than in our modern way.

How ‘Roman’ does the author make the counting? Is it just the years or is it extended to nundina, kalends, etc.?

BBC did a good series of I, Claudius a few decades ago.

Ooohh, sounds interesting for whiling away the rest of the winter.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

How ‘Roman’ does the author make the counting? Is it just the years or is it extended to nundina, kalends, etc.?

Ooohh, sounds interesting for whiling away the rest of the winter.

The book refers to the ides, kalends, etc. and the dates given for what he's talking about are reckoned AUC - Ab urbe condita - from the founding of the City (Rome, of course being the only city that mattered).

Claudius was therefore born in AUC 743, aka 10 BCE.

It does help if you keep a list of important dates in our own calendar handy, ie. Augustus' death was in 14 CE, Tiberius' murder occurs in 37 CE, Caligula's reign lasts a short 4 years, and Claudius' reign starts in 41 CE (or AD, if you prefer).

The story of Claudius is in two volumes: I, Claudius and Claudius the God. The second one deals with the actual years of his reign. There's a bit of a wander regarding Herod Agrippa in that one, but he does have some relevance, as he's one of Claudius' friends.

You might find these helpful: Ab urbe condita; and

Claudius. But don't read too far ahead... spoilers!

 

[Smellincoffee]

Just finished The Filter Bubble, which is dated at this point (pub. 2011) but nontheless enduringly relevant. Going to tackle The Moral Animal by Robert Wright next.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I finished "The Deaths of Tao" and it was as good as the first book. On to the third and last.

 

[Josu]

Also read with my daughter a book of Lilli The Witch series, by Knister.
We have taken the habit of reading half an hour in bed before sleeping

We have started Manolito Four-Eyes, by Elvira Lindo. It's recommended from 10-12 years, but she has asked to read it.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I've been reading a news article on CBC about book culling in school libraries. I'll post a thread about it.

Some "educators" are so friggin' stupid...

 

[Smellincoffee]

Finally finished The Jewish Annontated New Testament, and to relax I'm enjoying Star Trek Strange New Worlds: The High Country.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Last week I finished reading:

Laugh Scotland

by

Allan Morrison

It is a joke book featuring our Scottish neighbours.

Of course some of the jokes could apply anywhere, but
others rely upon the pronouncation of Scotch phrases.

It illustrates the stereotypical cultural gap between
Edinburgh and Glasgow.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Started Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

I haven't read that in ~25 years, but I loved it. I remember it was kind of a juggernaut - Google says 673 pages - but it was worth it. It may even have gotten a little dusty in the room at the end.

 

[PhroX]

Anything by Kay is worth reading, (even The Fionnavar Tapestry, his first works which are basically what would these's days be called an isekai - they're not amazing, but they're still a solid read), but I'd put the Sarantine duology as my favourite. I have a soft spot for Tigana, being my introduction to his work, but found when re-reading it recently that I don't like it as much as I used to 15-20 years ago - it's gone from an all time classic to merely very good in my book...

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Anything by Kay is worth reading, (even The Fionnavar Tapestry, his first works which are basically what would these's days be called an isekai - they're not amazing, but they're still a solid read), but I'd put the Sarantine duology as my favourite. I have a soft spot for Tigana, being my introduction to his work, but found when re-reading it recently that I don't like it as much as I used to 15-20 years ago - it's gone from an all time classic to merely very good in my book...

I tried to read his books, but literally couldn't. It may just be a publisher issue, but the print is microscopic.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I have just finished reading:

The Casual Vacancy

by

J K Rowling.

copyright 2012

It was well written and an enjoyable read.

 

[Kyriakos]

The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond. Recommended
It's a collection of short stories, by Chesterston. First one is the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse.