acommonreader.st
Saturday evening my wife and I went to see The Collected Works present “The Balcony” by Jean Genet. I’ve never completely connected with the play, although I do enjoy certain parts of it. I think my hesitancy with the play is in the randomness (for lack of a better word) in parts of it, a […]
It made me happy to see Richard’s post on Andrei Bely’s Petersburg because it was a book I loved and I don’t see a lot of comments on it (my apologies to those of you have posted on it). It’s weird. It’s sprawling. And it’s wonderful. As Amateur Reader expressed in the comments, “It has a […]
Judging by recent publications, there has been a resurgence in interest about William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (c. 1146 – 1219). Marshal will be the focus of several posts, so I wanted to have something masquerading as an introduction before I cover books and a TV program about him. My planned posts will be […]
I’ve mentioned the Collected Works theater company after going to see their production of Witold Gombrowicz’s Princess Ivona. Their current production is Jean Genet’s play “The Balcony.” Making the production even more intriguing is its performance at The Old Mint in San Francisco. From the Collected Works’ page about this location: The Old Mint (affectionately […]
Trevor at The Mookse and the Gripes was kind enough to post my comments on the recent translation of Tristana by Benito Pérez Galdós, so please give him some click-love: the review NYRB has provided a major service to readers by publishing Margaret Jull Costa’s translation of Galdós’ novel. While I really enjoyed the earlier […]
Last week BBC Radio 4’s program “In Our Time” featured a great discussion of Thucydides, his writing, and his role as historian. I don’t know how long this link will remain active so I recommend listening to it soon (although many of their previous episodes are available in their archives). If you’re interested in reading […]
I’ve only given a handful of books my highest recommendation (when I add a semi-ranking), and Chevengur by Andrei Platonov was one. Robert Chandler (a polite but definite critic of the only previous available English translation), Elizabeth Chandler, and Olga Meerson will have a new translation of Chevengur, hopefully available soon. Fortunately there are a […]
I usually enjoy the Coen brothers’ movies, I really do. And as much as I love O Brother, Where Art Thou? I find myself not watching it when I have the chance in order to avoid a certain feeling of fatigue. It had been a while since I had seen Songcatcher…actually last viewed upon it’s […]
I reviewed Tristana by Benito Pérez Galdós about two years ago. The version of the booked I posted on was Tristana: Buñuel’s Film and Galdós’ Novel: A Case Study in the Relation Between Literature and Film by Colin Partridge (New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995). My summary post links to the following posts related […]
Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S. C. Gwynne ISBN: 978-1451673289 (Scribner, 2014, hardcover) It is a matter of record that, a mere fourteen months earlier [than June 1862], the man everyone from Charlottesville to Washington was so breathlessly concerned about had been an obscure, eccentric, and unpopular college professor […]