What are you reading now?

[Jonathan]

Not reading just yet but recently purchased the late Christopher Fifield's book "The German Symphony between Beethoven and Brahms, the fall and rise of a genre". There are loads of unsung composers to discover about in this book!

[vinteuil]

.

Henry James : The Wings of the Dove

I read it many many years ago when I was in a period of reading all of James.
I think I read it far too swiftly then ; I am now re-reading at a much more considered pace - and appreciating it much more. Golly it's good...

.

[smittims]

Yes, I think one needs to go at a leisurely pace to enjoy it. Some of James' sentences, dictated, I believe, rather than written out, can challenge one's grasp of grammar and syntax. .

[gurnemanz]

I recently read Cosimas Kinder: Triumph und Tragödie der Wagner-Dynastie by Oliver Hillmes and as a follow-up I am into The Death of Franz Liszt; Based on the Unpublished Diary of Lina Schmalhausen, introduced, annotated, and edited by Alan Walker. The 22-year-old Fräulein Schmalhausen, a Liszt pupil of limited talent, was devotedly obsessed with him and was present during his painful, in all senses, last days in Bayreuth. She offered him valued support until ejected by Cosima. The Wagner clan had no interest in its coming to light and the 84-page diary was only unearthed by Walker in 1977. It contains a day-to-day description of Liszt's demise in July 1886. Lina's comments may not be an entirely reliable record in every detail but along with Alan Walker's experts notes it offers fascinating, if depressing, insights into the humiliating circumstances of the great man's final demise.

[richardfinegold]

I have been reading Robert Harris's 'Pompeii.' This is only the second book of his i have read. I love Roman history and this book is entertaining not only for the story but also identifying the sources of the historical detail. It is really amusing and adds alot of appeal for me. It was oroif read by Prof Mary Beard. Great fun.

Quite a bit of the detail Harris uses comes from Mary Beard’s book about Pompeii

[Jonathan]

I recently read Cosimas Kinder: Triumph und Tragödie der Wagner-Dynastie by Oliver Hillmes and as a follow-up I am into The Death of Franz Liszt; Based on the Unpublished Diary of Lina Schmalhausen, introduced, annotated, and edited by Alan Walker. The 22-year-old Fräulein Schmalhausen, a Liszt pupil of limited talent, was devotedly obsessed with him and was present during his painful, in all senses, last days in Bayreuth. She offered him valued support until ejected by Cosima. The Wagner clan had no interest in its coming to light and the 84-page diary was only unearthed by Walker in 1977. It contains a day-to-day description of Liszt's demise in July 1886. Lina's comments may not be an entirely reliable record in every detail but along with Alan Walker's experts notes it offers fascinating, if depressing, insights into the humiliating circumstances of the great man's final demise.

The Schmalhausen diary is a profoundly depressing read, showing how appallingly treated Liszt was in his last fortnight even by Cosima. She seems to have been too busy to realise or bother with her dying father.

[CallMePaul]

Just finished Storm Pegs by Jen Hadfield, an English-born poet who has setled in a remote part of Shetland and has also spent time in Canada. Her book describes incidents in her life and shows her love of Shetland and its dialect. She also criticizes the BBC Shetland drama as not giving a realistic picture of Shetland life - although this is not a good representation of Ann Cleeves' books.

In conjunction with this I am also reading Jen Hadfield's recently published Selected Poems. I first became aware of her work in the anthology These Isles, We Sing published a few years back.

[Barbirollians]

Leave it to Psmith - Wodehouse really ought to be prescribed by psychiatrists .

[gradus]

Leave it to Psmith - Wodehouse really ought to be prescribed by psychiatrists .

Certainly should and he's a tonic for anyone feeling under the weather.

[LMcD]

'Philomena' by Martin Sixsmith.

[Ian Thumwood]

Just finished Storm Pegs by Jen Hadfield, an English-born poet who has setled in a remote part of Shetland and has also spent time in Canada. Her book describes incidents in her life and shows her love of Shetland and its dialect. She also criticizes the BBC Shetland drama as not giving a realistic picture of Shetland life - although this is not a good representation of Ann Cleeves' books.

In conjunction with this I am also reading Jen Hadfield's recently published Selected Poems. I first became aware of her work in the anthology These Isles, We Sing published a few years back.

The TV drama was a marked improvement of Ann Cleeve's books. I think she is a dreadful writer and her plots seem to come to a conclusion as an after thought. Have read three of them but they are very poor in contrast with the more sophisticated TV series.

[CallMePaul]

The TV drama was a marked improvement of Ann Cleeve's books. I think she is a dreadful writer and her plots seem to come to a conclusion as an after thought. Have read three of them but they are very poor in contrast with the more sophisticated TV series.

I think that we'll have to agree to differ on this.

Ann Cleeves fans (like me) will be interested to learn that Jimmy Perez will be returning later this year, with a new book set in Orkney, where he moved at the end of Wild Fire.

[Ian Thumwood]

I used to have a very negative opinion of crime writers but it was Reginald Hill who convinced me to take this style more seriously. In opinion was the crime literature was the lowest level of literature but i think writers as diverse as Philip Kerr, Ian Rankin and Claudia Pinera have raised crime to a very high level. For me, Cleeves is unrealistic and also suffers from really creaky plots. The TV series struck me as more nuanced and the addition of the new character Tosh was a massive improvement. Usually adaptions of books are a let down but i think the BBC improved the Shetland books.

My mum would have agreed with you !

[smittims]

I misunderstood detective fiction for many years . It's really a puzzle , a brainteaser, cast in the form of a novel, raher than a plain narrative. As I've never cared for puzzles or brain teasers I didn't respond to its charms and resented the formulaic style of plot. I do read Sherlock Holmes for the atmosphere, the characters and the quality of the writing . I don;t bother trying to find out who dun it.

[smittims]

George IV by Christopher Hibbert. This may be the first time I've re-read this delightful book. I bought it (the Pelican one-volume version) in 1977 and devoured it eagerly for hours at a time. I know there was a lot wrong with the 18th century, but I sometimes feel I'd be more at home there.