(acommonreader.st)
Marfino, the Sharashka “For these defects, and for no other evil, we now are lost and punished just with this: we have no hope and yet we live in longing.” — From the Divine Comedy: Inferno by Dante Alghieri, Canto 4, lines 40-42, translation by Allen Mandelbaum. “Do you know, Lev Grigorievich, this rush of […]
I found a few passages from books I’ve read this year that I did not include in any post. That is a shame in this case since it is a key passage in understanding Odintsova. I described her in this post as follows: “a wealthy widow (age 29). Self-disciplined and reserved, she thrives on order. […]
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn at the prison camp in Ekibastuz (Kazakhstan) Such is the fate of Russian books today: They bob up to the surface, if ever they do, plucked down to the skin. So it was recently with Bulgakov’s Master–its feathers floated over only later. So also with this novel of mine: In order to give […]
The statue of Švejk in HumennéŠvejk has been a faithful companion the past couple of months and I’m a little sad to shelve him (although maybe not for long since a family member seems interested in reading it). Despite its unevenness, I really enjoyed the book. To simply say this is an anti-war novel misses […]
Movie poster for Beg to Report, SirI am still working out where I want this blog to go, but one thing I wanted to do from the beginning was view/consume/compare a book to versions of it in other media, particularly film. I think I’ve made it clear I don’t have a problem with variations from […]
The major-general inspecting the latrines Illustration by Josef Lada Picture source “Stupid people have to exist too, because if everyone were wise then there would be so much good sense in the world that every other person would be driven crazy by it.” Most resources I’ve read mention that Hašek intended six volumes for The […]
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor follows a brain scientist’s stoke and recovery plus the insights she received from the experience. Taylor explains her life before the stroke, covers some basic anatomy and physiology of the brain, details what happened during her stroke, and follows the arduous process […]
The Painting of You Author’s Press Series, Vol. 1 ISBN: 978-0-557-12874-7 80 pages. Paper. $10.00From the book’s order page comes this description: Designed and published by William Michaelian, the Author’s Press Series was conceived as a set of relatively inexpensive, uniformly designed titles meant to explore different themes and facets of his writing. The eighty […]
I get the feeling that store sells more than just books. Reading has been at a standstill the past few weeks, but hopefully time will free up soon.
The most popular books this week with the above audience: Doctor Dolittle’s Circus–we should finish this book tonight and start on the next in the series this weekendCloudy with a Chance of MeatballsThomas and the Big, Big BridgeOlive the Other Reindeer–I think they are hoping to get a jump on Christmas
Švejk before the divisional court Illustration by Josef Lada Picture sourceDespite this section’s title, Švejk does not make it to the front, although if the real battle is with bureaucracy then he is constantly “at the front.” He does travel, with and without his regiment, from Prague to a staging and training area just east […]
Movie poster for The Good Soldier SchweikSince I just finished Book 2 and haven’t had a chance to write any thoughts about it, I’ll post a quick review of the 1956 Czech movie which is based on Book 1, “Behind the Lines”. The film faithfully follows Schweik’s misadventures in Hašek’s book, at least for the […]
Švejk goes to the war Illustration by Josef Lada Picture source Those who boggle at strong language are cowards, because it is real life which is shocking them, and weaklings like that are the very people who cause most harm to culture and character. They would like to see the nation grow up into a […]
Picture sourceThe UPS guy must think I have a crush on him…I couldn’t stop smiling as I signed for today’s delivery at work. I splurged and bought the new release of In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The Wall Street Journal has a review of this restored version as well as the first chapter. […]
…can make you laugh and cry at the same time. Presented without further commentary.
Illustration by Josef Lada from The Good Soldier Švejk Picture sourceSeveral recent nonfiction reads have included quite a bit on World War I and The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek (my keyboard mojo is going to be sorely tested with this book) was mentioned. As I posted recently, Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August […]
Sketches by Pío Baroja (Characters from The Restlessness of Shanti Andía) At sea I lost the notion of time. Aboard ship the days are long, and yet the years, sum of the days, are short, and they fly by and are gone. Time has sped for me. The thought of the past, once youth has […]
I’m overloaded on so many fronts, the temperature reminds me of Hell’s antechamber (yes, I would know), and yet I’m under the spell of Pío Baroja’s “magical melancholy”. It’s a beautiful day, indeed.
The Restlessness of Shanti Andía and Other Writings by Pío Baroja Translated and with an introduction by Anthony Kerrigan (The University of Michigan Press, 1959) Picture source Text on the back: HEMINGWAY: Allow me to pay this small tribute to you who taught so much to those of us who wanted to be writers when […]
Paul L Martin at The Teacher’s View posted a review/summay on Rob Riemen’s book Nobility of Sprit (Yale University Press; $12.00, paperback). His review intrigued me enough to order it—if you’re not familiar with the book, please go read his wonderful summary at the link. There are three essays and a long introduction, all of […]