Author Topic: The Library  (Read 2079455 times)

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20200 on: July 09, 2019, 07:59:19 PM »



The Library
Our library  is open 24/7; the welcome mat is always out.
Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.



ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20201 on: July 09, 2019, 08:00:57 PM »

Bellamarie, yes, I think for the Mini we need to keep to the Index Card thing initially, so we each have our own day of issues or comments or questions, but can talk until everybody is finished. Just like the first one.

Anybody, with  or without an email account, can click on the envelope under my name and the website will act as email client and mail me your question or comment du jour.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20202 on: July 09, 2019, 08:18:00 PM »
If Mango seems a bit much, one might try  Goldsworthy's Caesar The Life of a Colossus, but Goldsworthy,  while totally thorough and taking one through Caesar's entire career, including the entire Gallic War, is a complicated read  and as we used to say as kids, "deep," so he's not a leisurely read. But thorough and scholarly which is what is needed.

For the real skinny and in a readable short paperback  format, one might try the small new book Julius Caesar by  T.P. Wiseman, in a series called Pocket Giants.  T.P. Wiseman is THE authority for Caesar today in the world,  and his little book here is chatty but full of the real facts, and the knowledge of things (like  Antony's famous speech which had elements Shakespeare forgot to mention and nobody will ever forget). His books are normally spectacularly expensive for a little book, so this one, a nice inexpensive paperback,  is a real  treasure.

His Remembering the Roman People, also a fine expensive small hardback with special attention to the chapters After the Ides of March and the Ethics of Murder is especially  wonderful, too,  if   wallet busting.   He's supposedly the model for Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series because J.K. Rowling, the author, had him for classics at Exeter. He says he can't see it. hahaha

Wiseman, normally, does a lot of footnotes, but not in the new paperback Julius Caesar. Normally if he says something he footnotes it and shows you exactly where it came from, translating if he has to, and all that on the same page: old tyme scholar. I love him. But he's not doing that in the little Julius Caesar paperback (or trying not to) and so it reads like a novel, while breathtakingly on point.

Ordinarily  his footnotes are more interesting than  most people's texts, if you want one of his more expensive books.

I'd always read him first, last, and always, but Goldsworthy has all the details and explanations about the Gallic War, too, and I think, in that order, they are the best out there today.

Reviews for Remembering the Roman People and I could put like reviews here for Goldsworthy, too:


"Wiseman's very selective use of secondary material stands out. This is one of the most learned of classical scholars, who knows the fields, both ancient and modern, inside out, and who argues meticulously against individual positions."

--Christina Kraus, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This book is ground-breaking for its simple suggestion that the ideology of Roman popular politics is not entirely lost to us, and for its virtuoso demonstration that, fragmentary, inadequate and intensively studied as our sources for the period are, they may still have more to tell us."  And for the previous edition of the same book: "The importance of his work lies not only in what he argues but in how - and in the vision of the Roman past he invites us, with such enthusiasm and elegance, to share."

--Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement


ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20203 on: July 10, 2019, 05:05:44 PM »
Another interview on Educated,  this one audio only on NPR from January, in which she makes some interesting remarks about stopping toxicity in a family.

https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2019/01/18/686464365

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20204 on: July 11, 2019, 11:43:10 AM »
So excited when I read this today:  I loved the book Firefly Lane, although I felt the ending was so sad.  Really made me think, of just what a "true" friend is.  I'm glad Katherine Heigl is playing Kate, rather than Tully. 

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/firefly-lane-tv-show-kristin-hannah?fbclid=IwAR3cQCAGItR7QSHHag6W4zgTtAKXYcCmbA-agG1WlyIVJ6QNs0hCxFjDXEQ
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20205 on: July 17, 2019, 07:11:03 AM »
Pearson is dropping print textbooks. Students will be able to rent print texts if they want them, though. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/80694-pearson-kills-print-textbooks.html

I am testing out CCleaner's new browser which looks suspiciously like Firefox.  Right now, everything is at default except for size which is set at 12pt and color is set to black (because I see it here as grey on default) I am wondering if you see any difference from my earlier posts.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20206 on: July 17, 2019, 08:41:24 AM »
Gosh summer is flying and my stack of books TBR is not only not diminishing but is growing fast. I'm  not making much headway.

Right now I'm reading Peter Mayle's last book, My Twenty Five Years in Provence.   He died last year in January at 78 and was the British author  who wrote such delightful and funny books  about his life in Provence France, and some light and comic mysteries, about Provence. I love his writing. He's a pleasure to read.  His last book is about how they came to live in France and it's lovely. He's wonderful companionship himself for any trip, because you can start him and stop him at will and he's always got that wry sense of humor so you always have a good read. I think I'll start over with his series because he truly did have a lot of funny adventures trying to adjust to life in  southern France.

 Last night he was saying that while his wife immediately enrolled in French classes in Britain before they left, he kept on with his schoolboy French and one of the natives laughed and said he sounded like a vache espagnole, which he took as a colloquial complement and was proud of until he found out  it meant a Spanish cow. hahaha  Anybody who has tried out their foreign language ability on any occasion can relate to that.

And everyone  can relate to his optimism and excitement about trying a new thing and the inevitable pitfalls and downfalls. A good read. I like Mayle, I am sorry he's gone, but he's left behind such enjoyable  books.

New additions to my TBR stack are Jurassic Park, which, for some unknown reason I want to read again, and The Gifted School,  which is supposedly a brilliant satire of striving parents and anxious children, "exploring privilege, competition, and elusive happiness. A deeply pleasurable read." (Review). I've heard an awful  lot about it and what with the headlines and the movie stars buying their children's way into college  recently, I thought it might be topical and interesting.

We're starting our Mini  Discussion of Educated on Friday, come on by if you like, it's certainly on the top of the bestseller lists (have you ever seen such variety in Bestseller lists? There used to be only one category, now there seem to be endless categories:  hard back paperback ,  e books, paperback and ebooks, etc., and they are all different), but it IS something a lot of people are talking about. And it's different, or I certainly think so,  and raises a lot of puzzling questions. At least to me.




PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20207 on: July 17, 2019, 11:42:04 AM »
Frybabe, your posts look the same to me--larger than Ginny's, which are fairly small.

Ginny, that's not a complaint.  So far my eyesight has stayed good enough that I have no trouble reading any of the font sizes used here, so I haven't bothered to figure out the things one can do to improve readability.

I can't see why anyone who's designing a system thinks that grey is a good default color, but it seems to be somewhat stylish.

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20208 on: July 17, 2019, 02:46:21 PM »
I am going to reread Ordinary Creatures and The People of the Book.   For some reason I think we discussed both books.
Didn’t like Remains of the Day so am returning it.
Am reading Where God was Born by Bruce Feiler.  Remember I met him here in Columbus?  Delightful man!  He commented when we read Abraham or was that Walking the Bible?
We are having HOT and HUMID! How about you all?
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20209 on: July 17, 2019, 02:50:17 PM »
I'm not sure we can do anything about the background color,  Pat, but we can try. These are some sort of presentation packages as a whole and if you mess with one element apparently you make it unstable and it goes down.

On the fonts, Folks, we again will try to get a default but even then you personally are going to have to adjust your own monitors. The Ophthalmologist  just told me yesterday who is going to do lens implant next Thursday that she had never seen the degree of myopia and astigmatism my right eye presents.

 I control this by jacking up my monitor to unbelievable size of print. I would venture to say each letter I type appears at least 1/2 inch tall,  and when it displays I have the monitor resolution settings jacked up to the point that the print is huge. HUGE for everybody because my browsers are set on 14 or "Larger" or whatever the three browsers use.

You can control the size of what you see by your (1) browser and (2)  monitor settings if not an i device and if it IS an i device you can make your settings gigantic.

I know YOU know this but I am not sure everybody else does. I will ask  (1) Marcie and (2) the developer SMF if we can get rid of that grey background but  if it crashes one time it goes back to the settings. I had  not noticed the background as grey. I wonder if I can change my own settings to overcome it. I will try. I think it's less  harsh on the eyes not to be stark white, but who knows, really?

I do  hate small print, myself, but I have fixed that with my own settings, I am sorry it appears kind of small, it's gigantic to me.

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20210 on: July 17, 2019, 02:51:20 PM »
Ordinary Creatures is wrong!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20211 on: July 17, 2019, 02:52:11 PM »
 I have come in to say that those of you who have been here a while and remember Larry Hanna, who we called "The Father of the Books," is in Hospice in SC at home.

You can see his posts on the website called Seniors and Friends, and if you like, you could register there and speak to him.

Larry was a big part of  founding the Books and Literature areas of  SeniorNet and SeniorLearn and I'm very sorry to hear this. He is a wonderful person who has done a lot for a lot of people.


ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20212 on: July 17, 2019, 02:57:06 PM »
Remarkable Creatures is right!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20213 on: July 17, 2019, 02:57:39 PM »
Hey, Ann! Yes it's as hot as blue blazes here. We could definitely use some rain!

I found the cutest thing the other day made by Annie with crayons in it from denim and thought of you, so I reread the Soriee in NYC and enjoyed it all over again. BOY we (YOU, it was your idea!)  did that one well!

How are you getting along?

Have you read Educated?

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20214 on: July 17, 2019, 03:08:55 PM »
Haven’t read Educated but will
request it in LP from library and it will be here on the 29th. Is that too late?
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20215 on: July 17, 2019, 03:11:13 PM »
For the discussion itself?  Probably. These Mini things are not intended to go on many days, and it's starting the 19th,  though they can. I would not want to say and you be disappointed, but you are welcome to read along and comment even IF you don't have it yet? It's got SOME MORE ISSUES in it, I can tell you that.

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20216 on: July 17, 2019, 04:40:43 PM »
Ginny, I wasn't complaining about anything, and I don't think you should try to mess with the website's settings. Sorry I wasn't clear.

Annie, it's  in the 90s here now, going to work its way to 100, with a heat index of 110 by Saturday.  Ugh.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20217 on: July 17, 2019, 04:44:48 PM »
No I know you're not complaining but we try to listen to comments from  the boards and do something about them if possible.  We'll see how possible the white background is but the fonts which have been mentioned several times are really in the control of the person viewing the site.

I like to hit Control/  and the plus sign on the right of the keyboard and that does it pretty well, too.

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20218 on: July 17, 2019, 04:47:33 PM »
The background is white now on SeniorLearn on my computer.  I was talking about what Frybabe said about the defaults on her new browser.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20219 on: July 17, 2019, 04:57:40 PM »
Oh! OK. Thanks. Well it's not quite white on mine, it's kind of a grey blue, maybe I should take my own advice and see what I can do about display on websites. I know I have a blue combination of  colors chosen for my own computer.  :)

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20220 on: July 18, 2019, 09:15:57 AM »
My background color is white and always has been.  Everyone's fonts, and sizes look good to me.  I'm with PatH., I don't think I would mess with the defaults.

Annie, Good to hear from you.  Yes, we did read Remarkable Creatures, I really enjoyed that book. 

I didn't especially care for Remains of the Day, but it sure made a great discussion piece.

Educated, is a book that really was a tough read for me.  The discussion should be interesting, to say the least.  Please join in.

Yes, our temps the next three days are suppose to hit 111 degrees!  I plan to stay inside with my air conditioning and read a new book. 

I just finished Untethered by Julie Lawson Timmer.  It dealt with some interesting issues, child abuse, self inflicting hurt, parenting, and how one deals with where a child will live once one parent dies who had full time custody of their child after a divorce and has remarried.  I had NO idea what this book was about before I began reading it.  I seriously read it in one day.  I couldn't put it down.  I must say, I think the author may have given parts of the story, unbelievable results, but then again it was fiction. This was a first time reading this author.  I picked the book up for a quarter at my library sale. 

Everyone stay cool and safe in these extreme temps.  A nice cold glass of water with lemon, a good book, with small meals is on my agenda. I am going to pick one from my stack of "beach books", for just a light read.
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20221 on: July 18, 2019, 12:29:46 PM »
I am only about a third of the way through River of Stars. It is slow going. Based on the wars between the Jin and the Song in the 13th century, many of the characters are either based on legendary or mythical characters, or those who  in real life became such, as well as those who were rather better documented in history. Characters appear and disappear only to show up again later as events inexorably drive toward the future. Lots of good intentions and bad intentions and their unintended consequences. And then there are the glimpses of the landscapes and living conditions during that era. Oh, and don't forget the importance of poetry, which could be praise or subversion depending on who was in power at the time. Kay must have done an impressive amount of research to write this and Under Heaven which is set during the Tang Dynasty in the 8th century.

 

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20222 on: July 19, 2019, 06:26:39 PM »
It's HERE, it's HERE, it's HERE! Father Brown Season 7, from March 2019, Episode 1!!  Saturday night at 8-9 PM!

  Your local PBS station!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Finally!


Tomereader1

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20223 on: July 19, 2019, 09:23:18 PM »
yea, ginny, I'll definitely be watching. 
love all the Brit series, father brown, Midsomer, Vera, New Tricks, et al.
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20224 on: July 20, 2019, 09:26:36 AM »
I tried watching Father Brown, but could not get into it.  I am waiting for the TV series of A Gentleman In Moscow to begin.  Happy for you Ginny!
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20225 on: July 20, 2019, 10:48:37 AM »
Yes and on my TV tonight the new Father Brown is right in front of the new Doc Martin and THAT series just gets better and better. I had left off watching Doc Martin but this new one has pulled me right back in. I tape these to save as entertainment. dessert  after a particularly bad day.

I do find such shows very relaxing, on occasion,  when it seems the whole world is being rude, offensive, shouting, and full of hate.  I do enjoy escaping to those programs,  even the new Channel 4 (British) Bake Off series where real people are civil and supportive to their competitors,  and  there's always a laugh, and when in these shows even Father Brown there is  nastiness,  there is somebody to put in in its place. All's right with the world.   It's nice to have something to combat  the screaming and violence  on our own programs, it seems there is no end to it. That MIGHT be old age? hahahaa

You think? May be. But it's really nice to go to sleep with a smile on your face than the opposite. It's a good thing I watch almost no TV at all, because then what I do watch is the more delightful.

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20226 on: July 20, 2019, 02:14:42 PM »
Ginny, do you get Doc Martin and Father Brown on the same night? I get Doc Martin on Thursday night and Father Brown on Saturday night. 

Today is 50th Anniversary of our walk on the moon! What a magnificent accomplishment for NASA! I have watched many programs about it!  Anyone else?
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20227 on: July 20, 2019, 02:48:34 PM »
Ann, I think it's different PBS stations who decide to put them on different nights.

Yes, I have been listening to NPR who have done some marvelous programming on  it, and I've found out a lot of things I did not know, too.  It's exciting all over again, isn't it?

Does anybody remember where they were and what they were doing when a man first walked on the moon?

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20228 on: July 20, 2019, 05:58:32 PM »
I was up in Michigan staying in a nice motel on a huge lake!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20229 on: July 20, 2019, 05:59:57 PM »
And we watched the moon walk and were so thrilled!!!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20230 on: July 21, 2019, 10:39:36 AM »
I didn't get to watch the moon landing live.  My husband was on a sabbatical, and we were living in Strasbourg, France.  We hadn't gotten a TV, figuring we wouldn't make much of the machine-gun fast French, and it was impossible to rent one.  So we listened to the radio, getting enough to know it succeeded, but didn't actually see it until later replays.  Very disappointing to this hard-core science fiction fan.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20231 on: July 21, 2019, 12:04:16 PM »
Has anyone been keeping track of how Barb is doing? I sure do miss her posts.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20232 on: July 21, 2019, 12:20:54 PM »
She's fine, more to come about her eye adventures when she gets the glasses she needs to be able to see well enough to communicate, to be delivered in a week or so,  a snafu on their end. Stay tuned! :)

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20233 on: July 21, 2019, 12:32:07 PM »
Thanks Ginny!

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20234 on: July 21, 2019, 12:53:15 PM »
:) I know she will be pleased to be missed.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20235 on: July 21, 2019, 06:48:04 PM »
And the first Father Brown of season 7 was cute, robbery on the train, lots of laughs...good stuff as always, Lady Felicia and Mrs. McCarthy.  I'm so glad Lady Felicia is back.

But I think the Doc Martin new season one  was even better, it was the one...about 4 or 5 into the new season with the boat race, really good. I may be prejudiced,  a  couple of friends and I stayed in Port Isaac (Portwenn  in the movie) years ago for a month in a National Trust Rental...it is at the  small castle (Doyden  Castle) where Mrs. Tichell took the baby if you saw that one, not in the castle itself  which is really just a folly but in the large house (Doyden House) which is smack on the edge of a cliff and which  owns it and shares the same drive  but is not visible in the Doc Martin film.  Port Isaac's a magic place, or it was. I am so glad they film there and I hope their filming has  increased the revenues of the place a million times. The people are wonderful.

I haven't been back for  years but if you drive it's a perfect place to  explore all of Cornwall and  you can walk to Port Isaac on the...the trail  has a name, but I can't recall it,  and you see as  you approach Port Isaac the same shots they show in the opening of the show. I couldn't do that walk again, I don't think, as it winds in and out along the cliff side, to get to Port Isaac,  but it's a great memory. 

After each of these new episodes on PBS there is another small one, or there is here,  behind the scenes,  about the filming or something to do with the show: it's produced with interviews and shots of filming and showing the excited people watching in the street and everybody  looks SO happy filming... Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) playing with the dogs (he loves dogs, unlike his character) and it's just so much fun to watch.



Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20236 on: July 24, 2019, 12:06:20 PM »
What with running into a Walt Whitman poem last week that I liked, and just finished with River of Stars which featured some characters inspired by several ancient Chinese poets, it got me to wondering if we might try a mini discussion on another poem like we did with "Lady of Shalott"  some time back. I really enjoyed that.  With Barb still out of commission, the poetry discussion has languished.

The poets that inspired several of the characters in River of Stars,  Li Qingzhau,  who is considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of ancient China, and Su Shi (who with his brother were highly regarded and sometimes exiled),  are discussed in this article on the ci  form of poetry. This form of poetry was in its' golden age during the Song Dynasty in which the story is set. 

Jonathan

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20237 on: July 24, 2019, 02:05:15 PM »
You're into an interesting area, Frybabe. With some good suggestions. I've got a lot of Chinese stuff around the house. The White Pony is a delightful little anthology of Chinese poetry, with twenty pages of Li Po (701-762 A. D.). I've enjoyed it for years. I've also got]The Poetry and Career of Li Po,[/i] by Arthur Waley. As well as A Floating Life, The Adventures of Li Po, by Simon Elegant.

I also liked your proposal some time ago: The Weight of Ink, by Rachel Kadish. A great read. I think it would make for a great discussion.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20238 on: July 25, 2019, 07:15:15 AM »
Thank you for your thoughts, Jonathan. I have never been much into poetry and certainly have never read oriental poetry except for a few scattered Japanese Haiku. When I went looking for translations of Li Qingzhau's poetry, I found only two translations, just on her works, and they were from 40-50 years ago. I have been reading and enjoying Chinese Science Fiction, and I have Shi Naian's The Water Margin in my TBR pile. The three Romance of the Three Kingdoms volumes are on my library wish list. River of Stars has succeeded in igniting/reigniting an interest in Chinese history, myths and poetry. Poetry and it's uses are a main theme running behind the plot of the book's story, the other main theme is a sense of destiny that propels the general. Here also, we see the age old tug of war between conservatism and progressivism, and the fear of a strong military within the ruling classes regardless of political affiliation.

Have you read The Weight of Ink yet Jonathan? Yes, there is lots to talk about, a book worth a full discussion.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20239 on: July 25, 2019, 08:31:06 AM »
Jonathan, I just ran across The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai (Li Po)  by Ha Jin, just new this year. I now have it in my Library wish list. Thank you for pointing him out to me, since I downloaded Kay's Under Heaven which is set during the Tang Dynasty. I expect to run across Li Po in that novel. My local library system seems to have lots of Ha Jin's works.