(acommonreader.st)
Canadian soldiers in a trenchPicture source Tietjens had walked in the sunlight down the lines, past the hut with the evergreen climbing rose, in the sunlight, thinking in an interval good humouredly about his official religion: about the Almighty as, on a colossal scale, a great English Landowner, benevolently awful, a colossal duke who never […]
Picture source The one thing that stood out sharply in Tietjens’ mind when at last, with a stiff glass of rum punch, his, officer’s pocket-book complete with pencil because he had to draft before eleven a report as to the desirability of giving his unit special lectures on the causes of the war, and a […]
I haven’t mentioned The Neglected Books Page blog yet, but I’ll correct that now. They have linked to an online version of Isabel Paterson’s Never Ask the End. Comments on the book can be found here and here. While I haven’t read the book yet, I hope to correct that soon since every comment I […]
A while back I found a couple of sites that had color photograhs from World War I. I’ll let the sites outline the original sources. It is strange that black & white photos can add a ‘distance’ to the subject matter, both in time and connection, that color seems to ‘cure’. Both pictures here come […]
He said: “Yes I believe I did. I used to despise it, but I’ve come to believe I did…But no! They’ll never let me back. They’ve got me out, with all sorts of bad marks against me. They’ll pursue me systematically…You see, in such a world as this, an idealist–or perhaps it’s only a sentimentalist–must […]
the ache/toská: No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a […]
Picture source Jumping down from the high step of the dog-cart the girl completely disappeared into the silver: she had on an otter-skin toque, dark, that should have been visible. But she was gone more completely than if she had dropped into deep water, into snow–or through tissue paper. More suddenly, at least! In darkness […]
Some Do Not Illustration by Stella BowenNote: check back for updates I will probably stay close to my usual pattern of posting during the read-along for Parade’s End. With “online resources,” I try to find sites or pages that are useful in understanding a work. If anyone would like to add a resource to these […]
Red Dawn by Pío Baroja Translated by Isaac Goldberg Alfred A. Knopf, 1924, 347 pages This would be the dawn of a new day, the dawn of justice, the cry of an entire people, which for so many years had been downtrodden, martyred, exploited, reduced to the wretched plight of a beast of burden. It […]
The Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino Artusi Translated by Kyle M. Phillips III Random House In 1982 I bought a copy of Pellegrino Artusi’s La Sceinza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene, “The Science of Cookery and the Art of Eating Well,” from a used-book seller who also carried a few new books […]
While I haven’t spent much time at C-SPAN’s video library, they (thankfully) have more than political events available for viewing. Here is the link to a talk by historian William Goetzmann: Mr. Goetzmann talked about the book My Confession: Reflections of a Rogue, written by Samuel Chamberlain. He focused on the life of Chamberlain, an […]
The only thing I’ve written lately has been notes on the books I’m reading, but I haven’t felt like organizing and posting discussions. The normal blather should return soon. There’s no other purpose for this post except to enjoy the look of the books that make up Baroja’s The Struggle for Life trilogy. Posts related […]
I have enjoyed owning works from The Library of America for at least 25 years now, and I’m happy to see they are posting a Story of the Week at their website. Mark Twain’s two-part newspaper article, later released as an essay, on Queen Victoria’s Jubilee appears as this week’s story. Here is the introduction […]
There have been a couple of comments on The Good Soldier Švejk, particularly in regard to Part One: Behind the Lines. I think a large part of Hašek’s accomplishment revolves around the ambiguity on how much of a simpleton is Švejk. Is he playing the part or is he really a fool? Or is he […]
Mel u at The Reading Life and I will be reading Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford starting in April. I’ve had the Carcanet Press version sitting next to the bed for over a year and I can’t take the procrastination any more. Feel free to comment as we tackle the four books. If you […]
Weeds by Pío Baroja Translated by Isaac Goldberg Alfred A. Knopf, 1923, 344 pagesWith Weeds I will link to the online resources for The Quest since I can’t find additional information that seems relevant or helpful. Fortunately the text can be found online here. Weeds came out in 1904 shortly after The Quest was released. […]
2666 By Roberto Bolaño Translated by Natasha Wimmer Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 898 pages, $30 (hardcover) …there was something revelatory about the taste of this bookish young pharmacist, who in another life might have been Takl or who in this life might still be writing poems as desperate as those of his distant Austrian counterpart, […]
View of Tor House and Hawk Tower from Scenic Drive, Carmel, CaliforniaI really enjoyed my tour of Robinson Jeffers’ Tor House on Friday. The setting was perfect–a storm was working its way toward shore–to admire Jeffers’ handiwork and his poems. So while I’m back at work and have to clean up after someone broke into […]
My wife will attend a seminar in Monterey Friday, so I’m taking the day off to tag along for the fun of it. While I don’t have firm plans there are many things I love doing in the Big Sur / Carmel / Monterey area, of which I’m sure I’ll include these two: Robinson Jeffers’ […]
I am halfway through Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 and I’m still uncertain how I feel about it other than I’ll give it a chance to let all the pieces fit together. In the meantime, here are a couple of posts by Patti Smith on her reading of 2666, among other things. Part One Part Two