acommonreader.st
I’ve started Debits and Credits by Rudyard Kipling and I’m impressed once again by Kipling’s storytelling power. Not to mention I’m at a loss as to why I haven’t heard more about this collection since it has some of his best writing. But then I’m only a few stories into the collection. We’ll see how […]
I wanted to pass on a couple of links I found through Rogueclassicism recently. The first is a paper on the death of Philip, linked through History of the Ancient World. It’s an intriguing read by Amalia Skilton, written a few years ago when she was a student at Tempe Preparatory Academy. This paper will […]
It will be a few days before I have time to read anything so I’ll take an opportunity to post a few things I’ve been meaning to mention about Arrian and Alexander. (On a side note, I’m listening to a few lectures on Arrian’s teacher Epictetus…funny how things tie together at times.) Reading Odyssey‘s next […]
A note here to encourage you to check out William Michaelian’s tenth anniversary authorized print edition of A Listening Thing. My comments on the book, such that they are, can be found here. Congratulations William. I couldn’t resist one last laugh with the title of this post (which is how I listed the book before […]
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Apricot Jam and Other Stories Counterpoint, Hardcover, 375 pages ISBN: 1582436029 / ISBN-13: 9781582436029Comments on the first five stories can be found here. This post covers the last four stories in the collection, the first three of these translated by Kenneth Lantz, “No Matter What” translated by Stephan Solzhenitsyn. “Zhelyabuga Village” is a […]
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Apricot Jam and Other Stories Counterpoint, Hardcover, 375 pages ISBN: 1582436029 / ISBN-13: 9781582436029As I mentioned in this post, I ordered this collection of Solzhenitsyn’s short stories and now that I’ve finished the first five (of nine) I better get my thoughts down on paper before I confuse the stories. From the book […]
Imagine my surprise to find that there is a marvelous movie version of Joseph Roth’s novella The Legend of the Holy Drinker (IMDb link). Rutger Hauer does a wonderful job as Andreas and director Ermanno Olmi allows the story to unfold at a natural pace, letting the viewer see the impact on Andreas of the […]
Reading (or in this case, listening to) Mark Twain proves to be a challenging task for me. I don’t mind the multiple layers of irony and ambiguity…in fact I find that one of his most enjoyable features. There are sublime moments in his writing, such as the passage I quoted in the previous post regarding […]
As I mentioned in a previous post, I found the audiobook version of Life on the Mississippi very enjoyable. Narrator Grover Gardner does a wonderful job of capturing the home-spun charm of Mark Twain’s fictionalized experience with the river. The book has two general storylines—Twain’s training to be a steamboat pilot and his taking a […]
While reading Joseph Roth’s The Legend of the Holy Drinker I had this song stuck in my head and it won’t go away even after I finished the novella. So I’ll share it in hopes that it will eventually go away. Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega, and Loudon Wainwright III perform the old Richard & Linda […]
There is really nothing that people get used to so readily as miracles, once they have experienced them two or three times. Yes! In fact, such is human nature that people begin to feel betrayed when they don’t keep getting all those things that a chance and fleeting circumstance once bestowed on them. People are […]
From my first post on the book: Joseph Roth’s The Radetzky March traces the history of the Trotta family across three generations. The grandfather, Joseph, saved Emperor Franz Joseph’s life at the Battle of Solferino, an act that helps and haunts the family across the years. The novel parallels and intertwines the connection between sons […]
Most of these orders pertained to the evacuation of villages and town and the treatment of pro-Russian Ukrainians, clerics, and spies. Hasty court-martials in villages passed hasty sentences. Secret informers delivered unverifiable reports on peasants, Orthodox priests, teachers, photographers, officials. There was no time. The army had to retreat swiftly but also punish the traitors […]
I’ve been listening to Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi during my commute and thoroughly enjoying it. Presented without comment is a section I heard this morning on the Vicksburg National Cemetery: The grounds are nobly situated; being very high and commanding a wide prospect of land and river. They are tastefully laid out in […]
Continuing some short quotes until I have time for more… The heart of The Radetzky March focuses on the relationship between fathers and sons, expanding that connection when looking at similar associations like emperor/subject or soldier/orderly. Onufrij, a peasant from the eastern border, is Carl Joseph’s orderly in pre-World War I Austria-Hungary. Onufrij’s devotion lies […]
I didn’t mean to completely disappear but August and September will be demanding beyond usual limit-pushing levels. For now I’ll post a few quotes over the next couple of days from Joseph Roth’s remarkable work. From Part Three, translation by Joachim Neugroschel (pages 247-248): Frau von Taussig stood on the platform in North Station. Twenty […]