Please note: I was trying out different themes for the site and a few recent comments got deleted. My apologies for this mistake.
The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati Translation by Stuart C. Hood Introduction by Tim Parks Canongate Books Ltd. (2007); paperback ISBN: 978-1841959283I have had this in my to be read pile for a while but Miguel’s post at St. Orberose on Jorge Luis Borges’ “personal library” recommendations pushed me to open it the other evening. […]
I finally finished listening to How to Live, or A life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer and thoroughly enjoyed it. A mix of Montaigne’s biography and review of his works, it made my commute much more pleasurable. Now the only question is what version of the Essays to start […]
Work threw me a knuckleball this week, but hopefully I’ll be back to semi-regular posting in the next few days (offset by some travel days). So expect some posts on The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati and the screen adaptation The Desert of the Tartars (both highly recommended). I still have some ways to go […]
Title page to Clerks / Chasing Amy: Two Screenplays: by Kevin Smith Robin, See? Now this sucks. You get this cool gift, right. And that’s okay. But now you know Dwight’s going to hold it over your head forever. Maybe even extort sex from you as well (if he’s not a relative…hell, maybe even if […]
At the start of the year, The Neglected Books Page posted on Fortunata and Jacinta as “The Greatest Novel You’ve Never Heard of.” Please read that post about the book and follow the links provided—it’s a great overview of the novel and introduction to Galdós. I seconded the enthusiasm for the novel and author and […]
Pornografia by Witold Gombrowicz Translation by Danuta Borchardt Grove Press, 248 pages (paperback) ISBN: 978-0802145130I’m having trouble getting motivated to read or post so I’ll provide a wrap-up on Pornografia that is heavy on links, quotes, and impressions. First, the summary from the Publishers Weekly review (taken from Bacacay: The Polish Literature Weblog): While recuperating […]
At Frederick’s command, Henia (Sandra Samos) rolls up Karol’s torn pants legI continue with my erratic foreign movie posts for this year as well as posting on movies adapted from books (as usual, this post will look at the differences between the film adaptation and the novel). For more foreign movies, check out Caroline’s World […]
My last post while I’m taking a break… An article by David Mikics, “The Diplomat of Shoah History,” fits in well with much of my recent reading and I highly recommend it (even with some reservations). In the article Mikics looks at Timoth Snyder’s book Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin and the question “Does […]
Another post while I’m away… “A gentleman does not kick a woman.” “Your lordship is right as far as that goes,” said Kazmer Rezeda. “If the occasion arises, strangling is far more appropriate.” Hungarian Literature Online had a recent excerpt from next year’s release of Gyula Krúdy’s 1931 novel The Knight of the Cordon Bleu. […]
While I’m away from wifi service I have a few miscellaneous posts lined up… Many thanks to Sheila O’Malley for the link to Kim Morgan’s interview with the four stars (Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox) of the movie Deliverance. She only had ten minutes for the interview. Ten minutes. As Sheila […]
I’ll be taking a few days off as my wife and I celebrate our anniversary. Since we’ll be in the area where we held the wedding, I’ll add a link to my post on The Art of Eating Well.
Witold Gombrowicz wrote A Kind of Testament, an autobiographical account of his life and work, in 1968, a year before he died. While anything that comes directly from Gombrowicz has to be taken with a grain of salt, the flow of information and insight that comes from the book feels as wonderful as his other […]
I plan on posting occasional entries from Diary by Witold Gombrowicz over the next few months (or however long it takes me to get through it). I’m reading the 2012 Yale University Press edition, translation by Lillian Vallee. There are several references to Pornografia in the Diary and I’ll post from two related entries. Before […]
I’ll tell you about yet another adventure of mine, probably one of the most disastrous. At the time—the year was 1943—I was living in what was once Poland and what was once Warsaw, at the rock-bottom of an accomplished fact. Silence. The thinned-out bunch of companions and friends from the former cafes—the Zodiac, the Ziemiańska, […]
I occasionally mention the audiobooks I listen to during my commute and this will be another such post. I’m listening to Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live, or A life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer at the moment and wanted to add to the generally positive remarks I’ve seen on […]
Freely adapted from “Job,” the novel by Joseph Roth, “Sins of Man” is a thoroughly sentimental, painstakingly somber and devastatingly complete portrait of a man in sorrow. While it is uncompromisingly tearful, it happens also to have been splendidly performed, honestly directed and handsomely produced. In sum, a well-planned conspiracy against the lachrymal duct which […]
Ewa Krzyzewska and Zbigniew Cybulski in Ashes and DiamondsI warned this would turn into cinema week, as I continue with my erratic foreign movie posts for this year as well as posting on movies adapted from books. For more foreign movies, check out Caroline’s World Cinema Series 2012 and Richard’s monthly Foreign Film Festival round-up. […]
This will likely be movie week as I try to catch on posting about movies I’ve seen recently and over the past few months. This movie hits a trifecta of associations: Continuing with my erratic foreign movie posts for this year—for more foreign movies, check out Caroline’s World Cinema Series 2012 and Richard’s monthly Foreign […]
Stevenson House / French House where Robert Louis Stevenson stayed while in Monterey, California Picture sourceLast summer I posted on visiting Robert Louis Stevenson State Park and the memorial commemorating his stay there as detailed in The Silverado Squatters. The hike up to the top of Mt. Saint Helena provides one of the best views […]
The City of Marvels by Eduardo Mendoza (translation by Bernard Molloy) has been sitting on my bookshelf for a decade. I needed the push of Spanish Lit Month hosted by Richard and Winstonsdad to finally open it. From the bookflap: Here is the story of Onofre Bouvila, a poor Catalan country boy who arrives in […]