On a similar kids fantasy theme I’ve been reading the The Dark Is Rising sequence. The whole quest against the forces of dark is a bit clumsy, but the sense of place (Cornwall, English Home Counties, mid wales) are all very strong.

Charles Mann was on Tyler Cowen’s podcast recently:
https://medium.com/conversations-wit...g-621327588c64
He seems like an interesting guy.

Finished off a John Scalzi novella, The Dispatcher. Very intriguing premise where 999 out of 1000 people who are murdered come back to life (no suicides or natural deaths), and the main character's job is to Kevorkian people out of bad spots and back to their lives. Fun, quick read.

I've been wanting to read George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo since it came out, and some talk ITT and seeing the Spielberg movie on Lincoln finally motivated me. I decided to go with the audio version which has something like 160 narrators. Mostly it's David Sedaris and Nick Offerman doing the narration with other voices popping in and out. Not gonna lie, it was tough going at first (and citations can't not play horribly on audio). But once I picked out the main voices and wrangled in the wild narrative structure it grew on me some. I'd still not recommend it on audio, though, unless you've read the actual book first.

As for the story, got to applaud Saunders for his willingness to take risks with his narrative -- this doesn't seem like an easy story to write. Mostly the book focuses on those souls trapped in limbo and their stories rather than Lincoln. There's not much suspense, however, and often I felt like I was reading a writing exercise. Some interesting themes, and a unique mode of storytelling doesn't quite save it.

Thanks very much...among a myriad of other things the interview made me feel better about raising cattle

about 1/3through A Walk in the Woods and it's not holding my attention near enough. It has to be a pretty easy read in general, I think I am a slow reader but I guess practice makes perfect. I may hang it up on this one but I feel like such a failure doing so. That leads me to ask, how often/ how far along do you give up on a book(s)?

well, shoot

I give up on books all the time. I wish I had better concentration skills, but also sometimes it's the book's fault not mine. Well not fault so much, but a book and a reader can be as ill-matched as husband and wife.

I'm reading Substitute by Nicholson Baker right now. Baker is one of my favorite living authors; his quirky sensibility I often find to be in sync with my own. U and I is probably my favorite book of his, on his imaginary relationship with John Updike.

I couldn't get into The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. I found the main character insufferable and whiny. Many characters' reactions seem either disingenuous or flat or off-the-mark. So much unnecessary exposition in the main character's letters to herself (hooray for amnesia!). Many subplots seem irrelevant, like the sister angle. I rolled my eyes at most attempts at humor. Etc. I didn't hate the story itself, kind of Monster Hunter-lite, I just found the book more frustrating than enjoyable.

Chase: was originally disappointed I didn't listen to the audio book but after reading your review I'm glad I read Lincoln first. If I ever decide to revisit the book I'll try the audio version.

finishing books is a mental disease. the only problem is not starting them.

A short opinion piece by one of my favorite writers

http://theweek.com/articles/758197/d...azing-dialogue

Wow, one of my favorite recent fantasy novels and the sequel was good also although not quite as good.

edit: Myfawny is far less whiny [not really at all] in the sequel for obvious reasons. Although there is a new character who is a bit whiny although with very good reason.

" I once asked Mr. Pressfield how he became so knowledgeable about the procedures and dialogue of the armies of antiquity, and he said that he'd put himself in their shoes and just made it up."

Nice.

You've usually got such good taste, Najdorf!

Erik Vance's Suggestible You informed me what a sucker I am. Probably not a whole lot you don't know about placebos and hypnotism in this one, but the book is easy to read, well balanced, and informative. Vance grew up a Christian Scientist and experienced a miracle but then left the faith, so he's got a unique perspective.

I also got a lot of good information out of Imbeciles by Adam Cohen, though it's very dry. The book follows the Supreme Court case of Buck v Bell to shine a light on American eugenics programs before the second world war. Scary, scary topic. Something like 70,000 "feeble-minded" adults in institutions were subjected to sterilization because Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that "three generations of imbeciles are enough!" (referring to Carrie Buck, her mother, and her 8-month old daughter). Cohen seems to want to make a moral argument without directly stating his moral position, and the book suffers greatly for it, but if you can ignore that and his lifeless style, there's a lot of interesting stuff on where elitism and faulty science can take us.

In regards to Mamet’s remarks...I was unfamiliar with Pressfield but have put the book cited in my Amazon basket. I loved Portis’ Gringos...read a decade ago but remember it well. I recently reread George V Higgin’s The Digger’s Game. Once you find the rhythm and sense in his dialogue, the music if you will, it’s akin to certain chapters in Joyce’s Ulysses...really. And Patrick O’Brian...I’m rereading the series for the umpteenth time in large part for the dialogue in the hope it will help me in my own project.

In The Digger’s Game there is a chapter where The Digger visits Las Vegas on a Junket. It’s both hilarious and, to quote my old Unversity advisor “the nearest thing to hell outside of Dante”

Sad to say, this wasn't very good. He shows up to these rando Maine schools, lets these rando urchins run roughshod over him, thanks them for it, a different group every day. I mean who cares, I sure don't. You're a goddamn writer, not a substitute teacher. The whole project seemed "phoned in" as they say.

Finished The Idiot by Dostoyesky. I didn't like it and I've liked everything else I've read of his.

Followed that up by something "lighter" in Norwegian Wood by Murakami. I had read Wind up Bird Chronicles years ago and I had really enjoyed it but had not come back to Murakami. I should have. This book was excellent, but certainly deals with some dark themes that are easy for me to relate to. I've purchased Hard Boiled Wonderland, but am currently reading something super light in Companions by Salvatore. Some super easy fantasy really cleanses the pallet. I've been following this series of characters since junior high when my brother introduced me to the original series. Not the greatest of writing, but certainly strong story telling if you like the genre.

Additionally, I have picked up some poetry. I read through A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver in anticipation of my journey of reading poetry, and although it was an easy read it didn't really do much to help me understand poetry. I enjoyed the read, but I think I misinterpreted the intended audience. I picked it up solely based on threads I had perused on Reddit while searching for poetry to begin reading.

Along those lines I have You Get So Alone at Times by Bukowski. Some great, some good, lots of depressing. He had a hard life and it shows. I can only relate to some of them as I am not an alcoholic nor a womanizer. I also have Good Poems by Garrison Keillor. I like it. I can't say I like every poem I have read, but I have liked a fair amount and I think that's all I can really expect. It is organized into themes and the first theme was religion, and I'm not religious, so maybe that was why not all of them resonated.

I read these pretty slow - maybe a poem or two a day from each book. Sometimes more, sometimes I go a few days without reading any poems, but I am enjoying the journey.

Mark, if you're just getting into poetry I highly recommend The Lives and Works of the English Romantic Poets audiobook. The course takes a deep dive into Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats, plus Blake, who was an island but is lumped in with the Romantics. This course would do more to promote understanding of poetry in general than anything else I can think of. Also, if you don't understand something but like the way it sounds, all good! I've never really known what Emily was getting at in this poem for example, but I love it and the ending rocks.

Banish Air from Air --
Divide Light if you dare --
They'll meet
While Cubes in a Drop
Or Pellets of Shape
Fit
Films cannot annul
Odors return whole
Force Flame
And with a Blonde push
Over your impotence
Flits Steam.

Emily Dickinson

Thanks! I'll have to give it a shot when I renew my audible subscription. I ended up with too many credits backed up so I had to purchase a bunch quickly and cancel. Which means I guess I forgot to add Fire and Fury to the above list. The Trump presidency sure is weird.

I have no idea what that poem is about. I have no idea if I like that poem. It ends strong except the last line weakens it as I don't understand what she is saying again.

Just finished this great book:We Die Alone: A WWII Epic Of Escape And Endurance, by David Howarth

(I stole the blurb below from amazon)

We Die Alone recounts one of the most exciting escape stories to emerge from the challenges and miseries of World War II. In March 1943, a team of expatriate Norwegian commandos sailed from northern England for Nazi-occupied arctic Norway to organize and supply the Norwegian resistance. But they were betrayed and the Nazis ambushed them. Only one man survived--Jan Baalsrud. This is the incredible and gripping story of his escape.

************************

Fantastic read. For a teaser, Jan, using a rather dull knife, amputates nine of his ten toes while hiding in a snow cave. He wisely places the dead and decayed toes out of sight so he doesn't have to see them. And also, more importantly, so the toes are not looking at him and talking. You couldn't make up this fun stuff. A more serious and poignant part of the book is about the people that helped him and the risks they undertook.

Just re-bought an edition of Emily's complete poems and I've been picking through it. She's one of a kind.

My stab in the dark at that one is:

“There is no frigate like a book
To take us far away”
Emily

Emily's poems, like the poems of many great poets, often take poetry as their subject. I think her subject is composing poetry, the way words fit into a whole that can be and can't be broken down. You can attempt to take it apart word by word, but odors return whole. I like how she devotes a single line to "Fit."

So while the teakettle image makes sense, her poems, despite having a riddle like quality, aren't riddles to be solved.

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I recommend two Canadians: Al Purdy (he and Bukowski corresponded for a time and Bukowski recommended his work to his American friends) and Patrick Lane. Both combine readable and artful and at their best can be very powerful / moving.

Like how rock bands write songs about being a rock band because it's their whole life.

Excellent analysis!