In my Shakespeare class we recently read the "problem comedy" Measure for Measure. The action of Measure for Measure commences with the Duke’s reflection that due to lax law enforcement in the city of Vienna, “liberty plucks justice by the nose/…and quite athwart/ Goes all decorum” (I. iii. 29-31). Believing himself to blame, the Duke decides that he cannot be the one to discipline the citizens, and thus decides to temporarily leave Vienna and appoint the austere Lord Angelo as deputy in his place, to restore order to the city through strict punishment. In fact, the Duke only pretends to leave the city, but remains behind disguised as a Friar. Angelo’s first act is to sentence a young man, Claudio, to death for fornication. When Claudio’s sister, a young postulant nun named Isabella, comes to Angelo to plead for his release, Angelo becomes passionately enraptured by her. I won’t give away more, but suffice to say, this play is full of surprises, including a “bed trick” and a “head trick.” The play is dark and disturbing but excellent, and I had the pleasure of watching it performed by the Reed theatre. I highly recommend it.
Light, wry, humorous and filled with an appreciation of humanity. A sweet read. Highly recommended
Just finished reading Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Satan in Goray" for my Russian lit class, Literature of Destruction. The novel was written in Yiddish in 1955.
Just received, and quickly re-read, Tinker Tailor.. by John Le Carre, from the Folio Society. It has probably been 25 years since I first read it - it's still wonderful. My favorite spy book of all time. Of course, I can only visualize the characters in terms of the BBC series, which starred Alec Guiness as Smiley. Wonder if that's available in DVD somewhere...have to go check....AHA! (see lower left). Wonderful book about betrayal with highly memorable characters!
Just re-read Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham. Delightful, wonderfully written book! Easy to describe the plot, but a little tougher to say what the book's "about". The book is told in flashbacks and certainly there's a major change in the narrator's maturity and life views as the book progresses. Also, there are some very interesting insights into the way authors view the world. But mainly, the characters, especially the key character Rosie, are extremely vivid and interesting. Quick read and highly recommended!
"The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" (1965) was the last Philip K. Dick novel I read this summer, and I liked it the most.
Another Phillip K. Dick book I read this summer was "A Scanner Darkly" (1977). It took me a little while to get into it because the main character was so vulgar and hard to sympathize with, but I did end up liking it.
Earlier this summer I read Philip K. Dick for the first time. VALIS was good and thought-provoking, but very strange.
Finished reading David Sedaris' "When You Are Engulfed In Flames." If you are a Sedaris fan, as I am, then this is a good book for you. The last book of his that I read was "Me Talk Pretty One Day," which I recall as being side-splittingly funny. This one didn't have me rolling on the floor, but it was pleasurable and funny with his characteristic sense of offbeat, awkward humor.
Finished reading Benjamin's Moscow Diary. Very interesting and pleasurable to read. It is the chronicle of Benjamin's visit to Moscow and his frustrated desire for Asja Lacis, his internal struggle over whether or not to join the Communist party, and his attempts to get by in a difficult Soviet society despite speaking almost no Russian. It is also filled with colorful and beautiful descriptions of the city, its churches, museums, culture and inhabitants.
Dad recommended Ironweed, by William Kennedy, to me a while ago, and I finally got around to reading it.
The Commedia is a book that everyone ought to read. Not to do so is to deprive oneself of the greatest gift that literature can give us; it is to submit to a strange asceticism. Why should we deny ourselves the joy of reading the Commedia?
Finished Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens - some parts were lively and interesting: For example, Hitchens observes that Orwell was an early and influential commentator on popular culture! Hitchens devotes a large portion of the book to defending Orwell against attacks by prominent leftists, deliciously skewering some, but this part went on too long for me.The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, that one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one's love upon other human individuals. No doubt alcohol, tobacco, and so forth are things that a saint must avoid, but sainthood is also a thing that human beings must avoid.
There is a great quantity of eating and drinking, making love and jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating, fighting, dancing, and fiddling: there are bullies pushing about, bucks ogling the women, knaves picking pockets, policemen on the look-out, quacks, (other quacks, plague take them!) bawling in front of their booths, and yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind. Yes, this is VANITY FAIR: not a moral place certainly; nor a merry one, though very noisy.A lively and delicious read - rather like a practical and entertaining version of Machiavelli!
I have decided that I need to make mid-way posts, because I will rarely update if I wait until I finish the book.
A while ago I read Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, which is great. A wild caper in which the devil and his friends come to Moscow and wreak havoc. The protagonist, the Master, is thought by most to be largely autobiographical.
I am a big fan of the Leaphorn-Chee Navajo Tribal Police mysteries by the late Tony Hillerman. I've also enjoyed a couple of Hillerman's other books, so I was very sad when he died in October of 2008. In recommending his books to a friend, I looked at the Hillerman entry in Wikipedia and found that he had been inspired by and had long given credit to Arthur Upfield, an Australian writer who authored a series of mysteries featuring a brilliant and unorthodox detective, Napoleon Bonaparte. Bony is half English and half aboriginal, with the strengths of both heritages. Although these books were written in the thirties and forties, I found that our library has many of them. I just finished The Sands of Windee - I think I like it more than Hillerman! A clever plot, with vivid characters, many enjoyable incidents, sprinkled with outback lore. A quick and very enjoyable read!
After visiting Jesse, Eileen, and Henry in Rome, we got to re-visit them, in a way, through this delightful book, which Jesse let me take home. Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr, describes a year with his family in Trastevere while he was supported by a Rome Prize Fellowship. The book has a story arc, but largely consists of observations on life and parenting, set against the backdrop of Rome, beautifully captured in quick, vivid sketches. The subtitle gives a flavor of this very pleasant read: "On twins, insomnia, and the biggest funeral in the history of the world."
Karen Knudsen gave me Netherland as a present - what a great read! The framework is the story of a Dutch man, married to an English woman, living in New York following 9-11. His wife is shaken by 9-11 and her own demons, goes skittish on their marriage, and returns to England with their young child. He commutes back and forth, trying to restore their marriage and understand himself. But the story focuses chiefly on the man's involvement with cricket, and a cricket enthusiast and promoter. The jacket blurbs say it's strongly reminiscent of The Great Gatsby, and nearly in the same league. Well, I barely remember Gatsby and didn't care for it all that much - shame on me, as I know some members of this family are true believers - maybe I'll try it again. Anyway, Netherland is wonderful - many unusual and arresting observations, an unsettling atmosphere, thoughtful insights into personality. Highly recommended! And Barack Obama read it!
