Author Topic: The Library  (Read 2079641 times)

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20280 on: August 08, 2019, 04:59:00 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.



mabel1015j

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20281 on: August 08, 2019, 04:59:15 PM »
Yes, I also have Truman on my bookshelf - for years. I have dipped in every once in a while, bit by bit. His Brooklyn Bridge book was the most tedious for me, altho there are parts of it I loved. I also liked his book on Teddy Roosevelt, probably because it was mostly new info to me.  I think it was Mornings on Horseback.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20282 on: August 08, 2019, 08:36:51 PM »
I am very sorry  to report we have lost another member, in that Ann Alden has  called to say that our  Robby has died.

Here is his Obituary, which expresses some of the many accomplishments of his long life:

https://www.fauquier.com/news/psychologist-robert-iadeluca-ph-d-dies-aug/article_dc16f27e-b87f-11e9-9b50-1fce5ff65081.html

And here  is a link to our Remembrances section where we can express our condolences:

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=5393.msg366926#msg366926

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20283 on: August 09, 2019, 07:16:38 AM »
Jane, good to see you posting again.

Sorry to hear about Robby. He was always interesting. He hadn't posted here in quite some time, but I never forgot about him, wondering how he was doing. An amazing guy.

Ginny, I think I neglected to read most of the reviews on Carthage Must Be Destroyed. I don't much like it when an author doesn't state up front that he is speculating or, as one reviewer commented, imagined (re-imagined?) history. The narrator was good, but I must say I wouldn't recommend the book for any in-depth reading/listening. It spent more time with the founding of Carthage and pre-Roman activities, which I knew only a little about, than its conflicts with Rome. Still it felt like an introductory gloss-over. Cato was hardly mentioned, except for his famous line.  Well, one shortish book couldn't possibly do justice to the whole history of the rise and fall of Carthage, and especially its conflicts with Rome. I don't remember there being much about Romans vs. Greeks. I think where the Greek mostly came in was pre-Roman involving the Phoenicians and Greeks.  He did mention Aeneas.

I haven't forgotten your question about Polybius vs. Livy. I just have to go back and re-listen to the last chapter which I hope to get to this afternoon. It was probably one of the few things that perked my ears up, but not enough for me to remember who said which.

The problem I am running into with the audio books is that the material does not seem to sink in or stick with me as well as a print book and it is harder to go back and double-check things. Some Audible books, though not all, come with accessible written material that can be downloaded.
 
Now I am listening to an audio book about called The Praetorians: The Rise and Fall of Rome's Imperial Bodyguard by  Guy de la Bedoyere. The narrator's accent reminds me somewhat of Wallace from the Wallace and Grommet cartoons. I am afraid it is a bit distracting. Playing with jigsaws isn't helping concentration either, but it is either that or fall asleep listening.

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20284 on: August 09, 2019, 11:41:33 AM »
What a wonderful tribute to an exceptional man, condolences to all Larry's loved ones. 

Frybabe, I don't much like it when an author doesn't state up front that he is speculating or, as one reviewer commented, imagined (re-imagined?) history.

I don't like this either.  An author can lose my trust, and cause me to question the authenticity of everything else, when he/she speculates or says they "imagined" this or that happening, or does not state up front he/she is speculating.

I too have a difficult time retaining the information from an audio book.  Nothing is better for me, than a good old hardcover book, I can flip back and find details I want to refer back to later.

I have finally given myself permission to read a beach book, before the summer is over.  Enjoying a nice light read called, Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer
“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

CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20285 on: August 09, 2019, 12:00:34 PM »
I am so sorry to read about Robby.    He was, indeed, an amazing guy.  I became acquainted with him on Seniors and Friends and enjoyed meeting him at several of the Bashes held around the USA and Canada.  I have a picture of us waltzing at one of them.

I agree that the Truman bio is a massive read!!!   McCullough went into detail about many events/incidents during Truman's life and career.  I thoroughly enjoyed filling in some of the blanks in my knowledge of his career but found myself skimming through quite a few pages by the time I got to the sections about his post-presidency years.

I have "The Greater Journey" (Americans in Paris) and "The Great Bridge" on my Wish List.  Thanks, Mabel, for the heads-up on the latter.  May rethink that one.

Ginny, my summer plan to read presidential bios was more than 40 years ago.  I don't remember how far I got - but it wasn't all that far.  Didn't have as much time - or access to bios -after hubby finished his year's sabbatical for graduate work and we went back to "regular life".
 We lived in Leadville, CO at the time and were away for a summer and a school year.  There's a book about local history titled "Everybody Came To Leadville".  We could have written a sequel about the summer we returned home.  We were used to seeing friends/relatives coming through on vacation but that summer, we had 65 guests between Memorial and Labor Day!    Not all spent the night but I had to teach our sons not to say "Are we having THAT again" when one of my "touring visitors" meals appeared on the table.

Awoke to heavy rain this morning and it's a gray gloomy day.  Back to the Books!!!!


PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20286 on: August 09, 2019, 01:10:33 PM »
Yes, Robby was a remarkable person, and it was a privilege to know him.

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20287 on: August 09, 2019, 01:15:20 PM »
Callie, we read The Greater Journey here in 2014. (Yikes, it doesn't seem like 5 years!)  It's very good, and we had a good time talking about it.  It's in the files here if you decide you want a look.

CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20288 on: August 09, 2019, 01:33:31 PM »
correction to previous post.....I became acquainted with Robby on Senior Net...not S&F.
Thanks, Pat.  I'll remember that when I start to read The Greater Journey.

Jonathan

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20289 on: August 09, 2019, 06:28:53 PM »
I've been to Leadville. Many years ago. And I was impressed. Now I wish I could have enjoyed one of your 'visitor specials', Callie.

About reading presidential bios, have you looked at The American Presidents series. I have the one on Martin Van Buren. It's well-written in 172 pages. And there are about thirty others in the series.

Thanks everybody for all the information about memoirs. Want to read a good one. Try Harold Acton's. The great literary aesthete. He also was well-travelled, spending a lot of time in China. He starts his book off with this:

'Yet as I look around me I can see that I am quite a rare person. Politicians everywhere, booming and thumping! All the more reason for me to raise my gentle voice. The most convenient way to avoid being shouted down is to write my memoirs. This does not mean that I shall undress in public. On the contrary, I shall dress up in all the dear old clothes that continue to fit me, and as the western wind is still blowing I shall don my Chinese quilted coat. When the wind dies down I may undress a little: I hold many memoirs in reserve.'

Was there anything he hadn't read? He mentions Sir Henry Wotton. He was one of Walton's Lives. About Wotton he writes:...'he wrote the memorable couplet on the death of Sir Albertus and Lady Morton:

'He first  deceas'd - she, for a little, try'd / To live without him, lik'd it not and dy'd.'

Keep posting, everybody. We'll know you're still alive.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20290 on: August 09, 2019, 09:13:59 PM »
The best memoirs were not in a printed book - before there was constant entertainment that all you needed was electricity, we used to beg our parents and grandparents to tell us what they did when they were young - how they celebrated certain holidays - what foods did they prepare and how they met those who were still family friends or how they met the other parent or grandparent and when they rode in their first automobile - or what they did during such and such war - on and on  - Problem... those stories from memories shared often did not make a sell-able cohesive storyline for a book - the verbal stories were not polished with better nouns or verbs nor did the story teller elevate as important obscure aspects of the story so it would better fit a total narrative that would sell.

In fact the entire issue of memory has me befuddled - I just spent two weeks with my daughter visiting some family members I had not seen in 35  years and also going back to see where I lived during part of my childhood and later in my teens - I was shocked - I expected physical changes and in fact last winter I used the Google mapping system to travel along roads in these areas and was prepared for houses to be where we played and flew our kite and walked to school - the school was the same but not the church building and even the order priests and nuns who taught us were no longer at either the church or the schools but what I did not realize was, how changed the way of life and the faces of those who lived there - Only in the cemetery did I see the ethnic names of neighbors that I knew - the kind of shops and the shop owners were changed - the difference in how people addressed and spoke to each other (frankly how rude they were) and how no one seemed to know or care about what others built and is now gone. It was not as if they respected what they have built - no spit and polish that no matter the depression and every one was poor we sure believed in spit and polish. Again, the cemetery was the only place that reminded me of what was, that really did exist at one time.

With the entire atmosphere changed I did not know where my life was except in my mind - there was no longer a physical place where I spent years of my life - talk about Dorothy and the yellow brick road only it was the opposite - the yellow brick road was my reality - I've had to shake myself since I am back home - am I real - I was a product of what is now a dream - what does that make me - talk about feeling insignificant or if I am here in 2019 - it is like all that I am disappeared and left is some shell that has been hardened and polished by unseen forces. Where do I fit - others are not part of this dream that was my life - do we all have our own 'home' in our heads - could we ever convey in words what it was like before TV - are all the old westerns simply a cliche of what others think it was like and the same for all these books and movies about WWII years. It is as if they are using the values of today to explain a world that no longer exists. Its more than the sights, it is the smells, the sounds, even the feel of the sun on my skin changed much less the water we used to swim and fish in.

Where does this loss begin and end - the Bible that speaks of the lost years of Jesus now really makes sense and there were not nearly the changes in life and living in those few years as there is today in the same number of years - who the heck are we - are we now and the bigger part of us is a memory - they talk about muscle memory - maybe that is it - we are 90% memory and 10% today.  This for me is a dilemma - I'm back to who am I... and I have not even read a current memoir - too busy deciphering my own.  Just thought, maybe we are all our own myths - now that I like... 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20291 on: August 10, 2019, 01:21:22 AM »
OK what do y'all think - this fall shall we do a long poem or epic - so far we have suggestions that include...

Gilgamesh, Song of Roland, Evangeline, Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad (ahum 4 books), The Legend of Parzival: The Epic Story of his Quest for the Grail, Don Juan by Lord Byron

Any more - do you have a druther...

So far I have three that interest me Song of Roland, Rape of the Lock and The Legend of Parzival: The Epic Story of his Quest for the Grail. I love Evangeline but know it inside out. However, there are many more from the long version of The Song of Hiawatha to Aeneid by Virgil -

We've done Dante and Beowulf,, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Iliad,The Odyssey and some shorter poems like The Lady of Shallot and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20292 on: August 10, 2019, 07:15:01 AM »
Ginny, I finally got around to re-listening to the final chapter of Carthage Must be Destroyed, which, BTW, I found more interesting than the rest of the book. Essentially, Miles stated that Polybius' view was a warning that Rome would eventually suffer the same fate as Carthage, while Livy believed that the victory over Carthage revitalized Rome and "affirmed Roman virtue, the favor of the Gods, and the potential for further future greatness." So Polybius was a pessimist, and Livy was an optimist regarding Rome's future.

Barb, that is an awesome short essay about memories. At the end there, you are getting mighty close to speculations that we create our own universe in our minds, or that we are actually, ourselves, a computer simulation. What with all this talk of multi-universes, quantum entanglements and other quantum effects, who knows. Well, that is pretty much "out there". On a personal, lived-in, level, I have noticed that my sisters and I sometimes do not share the same memories of the same past events. Here we were at the same places, at the same times, hearing the same conversations, but we sometimes remember things so differently. Not often, but it has happened.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20293 on: August 10, 2019, 10:03:50 AM »
I agree, Frybabe, that IS an impressive essay by Barbara, I am excited to hear more about her recent Odyssey. Those first two paragraphs,  this:


With the entire atmosphere changed I did not know where my life was except in my mind - there was no longer a physical place where I spent years of my life - talk about Dorothy and the yellow brick road only it was the opposite - the yellow brick road was my reality - I've had to shake myself since I am back home - am I real - I was a product of what is now a dream - what does that make me - talk about feeling insignificant or if I am here in 2019 - it is like all that I am disappeared and left is some shell that has been hardened and polished by unseen forces.


That's very well written. You can't go home again, huh? And where is home?  That's lovely.
 


     On this one: Ginny, I finally got around to re-listening to the final chapter of Carthage Must be Destroyed, which, BTW, I found more interesting than the rest of the book. Essentially, Miles stated that Polybius' view was a warning that Rome would eventually suffer the same fate as Carthage, while Livy believed that the victory over Carthage revitalized Rome and "affirmed Roman virtue, the favor of the Gods, and the potential for further future greatness." So Polybius was a pessimist, and Livy was an optimist regarding Rome's future.

Thank you for listening to that again. Livy wrote to show by  example what the ethics of Rome's former greatness was, and what to avoid, so that seems to fit, though I  personally don't see either conclusion of the author  as making much sense. The first is inevitable, right, and the last makes no sense when you consider Scipio's treatment, but Miles definitely  knows more than I ever will  about this subject.

  Guy de la Bedoyere is a good one. He's in some youtube historical films, interviewed by  Francis Pryor in one, I think it's Britain BC, he's charming, big expert on Roman Britain.  Is he reading it himself?

Jonathan, I'm reading a memoir as we speak, it's Backing into the  Spotlight by Michael Whitehall,  former British theatrical agent and producer, and it's very interesting and quite strange,  as is the man himself. It's said on the cover to be "non PC" and I'm not sure what that means, I'm only  in chapter 3 and the F word is well in use,  but truly at the hands of this man whose humor is like a bomb waiting to go off, one is constantly on guard. I do fear for what's coming, while enjoying a laugh at some of the incidents portrayed. Name dropping exceeds Tina Brown's book, if that's possible. Not quite the same level names  as hers, however.

 I enjoyed watching the Netflix series of Travels with my Father, which features two trips taken by stuffy Michael and his bohemian son Jack,  and am finding the life of an "Agent,"  (my knowledge of which people was pretty much summarized by Ab Fab) to be...just very strange. Just like AbFab, actually hahaha

In the Netflix show Dad is a stuffy, ascot sort of type, well dressed  man of taste with a bohemian (and very engaging) son. I don't know how much of that is done for the show. Both of them are at times hilarious. And sometimes very cringe worthy, and sad,  it's an odd set of shows, with odd people.   And I like odd things.

Very funny scene early on in the book  with the Earl Spenser at a book signing. ....Book is very offbeat but  I have an awful feeling it's going places I would prefer not to... (that's some review, isn't it?) hahaha

Callie, 65 guests?  Between Memorial Day and Labor Day?   !!!! You must have been  the Pearl Mesta of Colorado!  Tell us one of  your favorite "touring visitors" meals, I am sure it was good and I could use one, am kind of running out of creativity here. Well actually I ran out a long time ago. :)

Mabel, and Barbara, the last time I drove up Park Avenue in Eddington,  Bucks County  PA,  where I lived from the 1st to the 7th grade, I did not recognize almost anything. The house my father built, which one was it, again? It was white with green shutters and a giant tree in the backyard? Is it brown now? Is that false stone on the front?  The whole shape is changed..or is that really IT? Back up and come down the street again. It's been added on to and painted and I can't tell it from the ones next door...I drove back and forth in front of it, I stopped dead and stared,  it's a wonder they did not call the police. Where was the...I can't recall what they were called, breezeway (do they still have such things?) the breezeway  from the house to the garage? Gone.  Maybe I'm looking at the wrong house?   Where are the Fiori Brothers's  fields, those growers of acres of produce? Gone. Where is the creek we played in? The big bridge? I can't even see a bridge. (In Edit: I went into  Google Earth and saw a two cinderblock high stone ...sort of thing, is THAT it?  What happened to the stanchions and rings for horses at the big stone church? Gone.

How strange and Twilight Zone-ish it was and that was YEARS ago.

It's a shock.




Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20294 on: August 10, 2019, 11:48:30 AM »
Ginny, Praetorian is an "Audible Original" narrated by Malk Williams. Williams, I just discovered, has his studio in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20295 on: August 10, 2019, 01:12:43 PM »
Nostalgia.....Speaking of going back home, last week end I went to my small hometown of Monroe, Michigan to watch the annual Monroe County Fair parade.  Mind you, I have never seen this parade in all my years living in Monroe, or after marrying, moving to Toledo, Ohio which is only a twenty minute drive.  All my memories just floated back to me, the shop where I purchased my wedding dress is now something else, the Jack In The Box where I worked my first job, is now another business, and as I sat by the side of the main street, watching the Monroe High School marching band, all the familiar sounds and feelings returned.  I even sang along to our school fight song, as they passed by. 

My younger sister now lives on the land our home sat on. Since she's owned it, there was a fire and our family home was burned to the ground.  She and her  hubby built a beautiful farm style home, and left it in the exact same spot where our family home was, so when I visit her, it is like going back home to "our" house.  The backyard has the same feel, the front yard still has my Mom's climbing roses, and everything feels familiar.  Just standing in our yard, looking up, taking in the sunshine, the warm gentle breeze, the smell of roses, picking tomatoes from her garden for her, all familiar, from days gone by.  I had my two youngest grandchildren with me, and Zak kept asking me, "Nonnie this is where you lived when you were a child?"  Oh the joy and love I felt sharing this with them.  So, while some find their hometowns changed and unfamiliar, I felt as if nothing had changed at all.  I did go to place flowers on my mother and father's grave site, and yes, even the cemetery, was the same.... all the names of the families, friends and relatives brought back smiles and tears, memories flooded my mind, filling my heart to the brim.  And while businesses have gone, and new ones have come, new neighborhoods now fill the vacant fields, and even the park where my hubby and I spent time while dating is no longer there..... the memories are fresh in my mind. 

For me.... Monroe is my hometown, my family still lives there, my aunt still sits on her front porch watching traffic pass by on the rural road we all grew up on, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma and grandpa, four generations on one road, still carrying on the tradition of families living close by. 

I know I not only exist, I know I am more than just a computer simulation or myth.  I am God's great creation, child, I am a wife, a sister, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, and I am ME!  Aged, tired, but still looking forward to the best years to come.  I am working on my own memoir, and yes, talking with other siblings and relatives, I realize, we all have our own personal memories, some I was too young to be a part of, but mostly, we all agree, our family with all it's dysfunctions was something we cherished.  Oh dear.... listen to me going on and on. 

Well, I am off to a small town festival today, where passing through last night at dusk, all the people young and old were sitting out having ice cream cones, riding bicycles, strolling down the lighted sidewalks, and enjoying the summer night's cool breeze.  We're going to stop in to say good-bye to our friends, shop owners of a small resale shop called Encore, who are having a retirement/going out of business bash today. One more memory I'll store in my mind, for when we pass through this quaint little town in the future, and say to my hubby..."Do you remember when we stopped in there and Chuck was dressed like Santa Claus."
“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

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20296 on: August 10, 2019, 02:22:55 PM »
Ah, memories.  Enjoy, Bellamarie.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20297 on: August 13, 2019, 10:16:47 AM »
Still  laughing through the new  memoir by Michael Whitehead, he's a hoot, he really is. One of his schoolmasters said in a report that his "blatant buffoonery" ruined any accomplishment noted.  (He is photographed on the cover riding a wrecking ball and he's 77).  I like his style, so far nothing  too bad ("not PC" as the cover warns), he's breezy and funny, I can see where his son Jack, a comedian, gets his sense of humor, but poignant about his older brother and somewhat sad. I like the way the book jumps about, here a vignette about his growing up, here a slice of modern info,  it's his book and story and he's telling it his way. A nice pre sleep read.

But I came in to say I have bought at Wal Mart the most wonderful thing! A new phone! It's going to block all robo calls!  It's from ATT.

You can set it on a million settings, it has 4 satellite phones. It screens robo calls and known abuser calls, and it won't even ring when they call,  you can set it for almost anything. Promises promises, it's charging now, I am totally excited that in this coming set of primaries and elections, I will not have to answer the phone every 2 seconds.

And that includes the people calling from the "IRS" and the "credit card" etc., and others will have to say their name. If they don't say their name it goes immediately to the  answering machine without ringing.  HIGH TECH!!!! Fort Knox! I can't wait to see how it works.

Will probably alienate everybody else I know. hahahaa. Albert Payson Terhune (the author of the Lad  collie books) always used to say he'd put up a sign on his estate asking people not to trespass and the only people who ever  paid any attention to it were his friends, who turned away and did not intrude, while perfect strangers drove right on in, wandered,  and picnicked on the grounds.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20298 on: August 13, 2019, 10:36:22 AM »
Frybabe, I also meant to say that's a shame on your audiobook, it's amazing how a reader can just ruin a book for you by the way he reads, isn't it? Maybe de la Bédoyère didn't want to read it, but he, I believe,  is possibly  French in origin,  but  his English is perfectly understandable in the youtube videos and I  like his points. That's a shame. (He's got some name, his full name is Guy Martyn Thorold Huchet de la Bédoyère).

Jean, I also meant to say that your afternoon group sounds WONDERFUL, that's the kind of thing I miss, actually,  and since you are being asked to start the series over, I think that alone shows the demand for it, I'd go for it. Maybe the Pioneers book will give some new nominations, that's a hot topic right now.  I miss some things about your area. I'll tell you what I saw the last time I was in our mutual city:  women playing field hockey,  old women, like me,  and I wanted to jump out of the car and join them! I am just beginning to appreciate the vibe of my (3rd) "home town"  in NJ. :) According to the HS alumni page they've turned out well.

I doesn't know how you all listen to audio tapes when driving.  I start out eagerly and find that my mind has wandered elsewhere and I have to keep hitting repeat. Is it just me? Indications of senility? Or too many stimuli?

What's everybody reading or listening to now?


ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20299 on: August 13, 2019, 10:39:02 AM »
Well no wonder his English is so good, he's not French at all, look at this:  Wikipedia (I can't believe i am actually quoting Wikipedia):

Despite his French surname, de la Bédoyère's father's ancestry is mostly English, Anglo-Irish and Scottish, with a large part belonging to the ancient Lincolnshire family of Thorold baronets as well as the dukes of Manchester and the earls of Salisbury. His great-great-grandfather was Anthony Wilson Thorold, Bishop of Winchester. One of his male-line ancestors was the cousin of Charles de la Bédoyère, Napoleon's aide-de-camp at Waterloo in 1815. His grandfather, Michael de la Bédoyère, was the editor of the Catholic Herald for approximately thirty years.


Guy de la Bédoyère was born in Wimbledon on 27 November 1957, the eldest of five children. He was educated at King's College School, Wimbledon and Wimbledon College. He took an archaeology and history degree at Collingwood College, Durham in 1980, part of Durham University, with a subsidiary paper in egyptology, a degree in modern history at the University of London in 1985, and an MA in archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, now part of University College London, in 1987. From 1981 to 1998 he worked for most of the time as a sound engineer for BBC Radio News at Bush House and Broadcasting House in London. In 1998 he became a full-time freelance writer and broadcaster.

His special interests, apart from the Roman Empire and Roman Britain, include coinage (ancient and modern), and the writings of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn. He is a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a Fellow of the Historical Association. In 1997 he discovered that the rebel Romano-British emperor called Carausius (AD 286–293) had placed explicit reference to lines from poetry by the poet Virgil on his coins, considered a major discovery in the history of the period.[2]

Between 2007 and 2016 de la Bédoyère gave up his full-time freelance work as a writer and broadcaster, to teach at Kesteven and Sleaford High School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. After training on the Graduate Teacher Programme, he specialised in teaching Modern History and Classical Civilisation.



Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20300 on: August 13, 2019, 11:20:34 AM »
I got used to Malk Williams' accent after two chapters Ginny. I haven't seen a bio on him so I don't know if he is born Welsh or that is a "borderlands" accent. All my relatives have a heavier Welsh accent. I am a little perplexed at my inability to ferret out the Welsh components of his accent.  Anyway, Williams seems to be a very popular voice over artist.

Praetorian  is interesting. It covers a lot of ground (I am just past Nero's demise right now). There is apparently not a lot that was written about the Praetorian Guards, or at least not a lot (especially early on) that has survived.  De le Bedoyere is clear about when he is taking educated guesses from scanty material, including coins. He often supposes or wonders that the Praetorians were possibly a "milliary" group, at least that is what it sounds like. He doesn't often use the word cohort, which would have been clearer to me.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20301 on: August 13, 2019, 01:59:54 PM »
Just ordered a used copy of the Memoir, Ginny - looks and sounds like fun - just what is needed now that we have two weeks of nothing on TV and PBS is doing their fund raiser - with our usual August Temps I've been in-doors

My younger sister is doing what you are doing Frybabe - listening to all these books read aloud - I think she is getting hers off her phone - not sure how that works and frankly enough, I do not want any more phone technology explained - I know I am slipping but enough for awhile - plus I do not like the size of the phones with all the bells and whistles - they fall out of my pocket and I am no longer in my vehicle enough to arrange a setup - I'll be happy when they can figure out a phone that does all the magic and is essentially a wrist band item. Dick Tracy on steroids :)

My son drives all over now - he has jobs he visits at least twice in Kansas, Tennessee, New Orleans, the Texas Gulf Coast and out in Alpine - lots of hours and hours driving and he found a radio station out of Lubbock, that has a long distance reach and they read nothing but westerns or play old radio programs like Inner Sanctum and Gunsmoke. I remember when Red October came out and listened to it on a long distance road trip - I was fascinated hearing the scene describing the subs in their underwater battle - I also found I could listen to light or mystery but not a decent novel since I seem to have to go back and find something I read earlier to get the happening straight in my mind. But then I am not as familiar with Roman and Greek history as both you, Frybabe and Ginny are. I think that probably makes a difference hearing and having a clue...

Well with the high temps outside and watering only at night - so far no restrictions except to water after 7: - I can get back to my reading challenge that went off the rails last Spring when my eyes went wonky - I've a really large flat basket with all the books - would be nice if they were in order but had to make them fit so long ones are along the top and bottom and the rest in a row with spines facing upward. I have a placemark in The Umbrian Thursday Night Supper Club by Narlena De Blasi and had finished the Cherry Orchard  so I'm off... don't want sweet so it will be another cup of coffee...
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20302 on: August 14, 2019, 07:18:59 AM »
Barb, one of the things I don't like about audio books, especially non-fiction, is that you do not get the photos, maps and illustrations unless the publish provides .pdf material you can download (like Great Courses often does). On the up side, when my eyes get too tired and fuzzy, I can switch to audio books. You are right about having more trouble going back and trying to find a previous passage that you want to check. Another disadvantage is that I don't retain as much information by just listening as I do reading. My sister and her husband only listen to audio books when they are in the car only. Even though I have pointed out several short novels and stories I think she might like that are free, he likes the longer ones. It is a shame that they are missing out on some good stories they can listen to in their entirety when on shorter trips.  I have an Audible app for my computer as well as my tablets. I don't have a smartphone and would very likely not use one for anything other than phone calls.

Your son is lucky to have found that station. I do remember Inner Sanctum and Gunsmoke. I didn't listen much to Gunsmoke, but I did listen to The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers but not regularly. I was just as likely to listen to the likes of Fibber Magee and Molly, Amos and Andy, The Honeymooners, CBS Mystery Theatre, Green Lantern, Superman, Suspicion, and I know I am missing some. Gosh, I don't remember spending so much time listening to all these. 

Ginny
, de la Bedoyere has raised my eyebrows about Nero. I knew the sensationalized version of him, but I had no idea that he was actually very popular with the common folk. I hate to say this but I got a flashing brain popup of Trump when reading Bedoyeres' description of Nero's antics, interaction with and popularity among the commoners. Now I am going to have to find a biography of Nero that is more accurate and honest about his reign. Now I am to the point in my listening were we get to Vespasian and his sons. By now, the Praetorian Guard has become corrupted and fragmented in their loyalties.  From the Year of the Four Emperors onward, I know so very little about the rulers of the Roman Empire, with the possible exception on Vespasian. Oh, forgot to mention, Bedoyere stated that the Praetorians were sometimes used a spies and scouts, and sometimes participated in battles alongside the Legions. All new to me.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20303 on: August 14, 2019, 08:24:57 AM »
Frybabe, as you know,  there's a lot of new revision going on in classics, because they now know what they did not in the past, and it appears Nero and Caligula are two they are looking at more closely, and maybe Domitian of all people.  Claudius has already been redeemed. Are they right?   I don't know. Mary Beard does some of it, too. I read a fascinating thing on her blog a month or two ago about Leda and the Swan and how that was a misunderstanding of the Greek word for noble,  there was no swan and there was no Hannibal breaking the rock with wine or vinegar, either, another misunderstanding of the word for axes.... It's a good story though. Revisionism again? This from her commentators,  some of whom  are VERY well informed.

Barbara, we have that station here, on SIRIUS,  I've forgotten what it's called, it does all the old radio shows, "The Shadow Knows" haahha they are fun. I LOVE the old Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce from the 40's, the WWII War Effort commercials especially, any of the commercials,  just wonderful to listen to. There is a site which sells the old radio shows, they have them all, can't recall the name now but they send out catalogs...The best are the remastered or  remade (some of the old ones are so scratchy you can barely hear them but the new remade ones are fresh and good) Radio Shows, I got the entire Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series to listen to in the car. Sometimes the announcers were the original performers or married to the writers, and they give interviews, it's magic stuff, if you like old radio.

I finished the Whitehall book last night, it's light and hilarious in places, and because I've watched the two Neflix series Travels With My Father it puts a different light on the programs, too, explains some things. He was actually  born in 1940 so he's just turned  80 years old not 77.  It's a hoot, too. I think he does pretty well at his age to experience what he does in those programs. I think anybody over 70 would sympathize  with him actually on those  trips, it's kind of hard to describe. He's to play the grumpy old curmudgeon which he is sometimes, but who would not be under the circumstances of the film? I sure would. That is NOT my idea of travel.




BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20304 on: August 14, 2019, 09:42:21 AM »
Ah yes, all the radio programs - I'm remembering many were just on Saturday and Sunday nights - for years Sunday was Jack Benny followed by George Burns and Gracie Allen  - but all the rest, I too remembered listening but for the life of me do not remember what time of day or night - had to be weekend since we went to bed early on a school night.

Have not yet received my copy, only ordered it yesterday and I did order a used copy so it will take a bit longer - there was a group of books I read over a year ago of some senior citizens in Britain who pull a heist - fun and games as they used zimmer frames to hide their ability so they were not a suspect - they always return the money. Their fun and use of their brain is in planning and carrying out these heists.

Well you got me frybabe - had to look up Praetorian Guard - found this for starters and may be enough - https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-praetorian-guard - reading this about Nero and after reading your post I had a new picture - my childhood history ran along the lines of Nero fiddling while Rome burned hinting he started the fire he was so decadent.  Now I'm seeing that he, as leader of the nation was unable to stop the fire and the opposition made it appear as political exaggeration today that he fiddled away his time that he should have used to stop the fire.

My reading of late is more along the lines of learning the banking industry and how all these various kinds of banks are the engine to progress, nation building, war, poverty and how they jockey for position to wield control over nations. Looks like BBAC out of Spain is the dark horse the media has not spoken of and yet they are slowly controlling all Spanish speaking nations and have made a huge dent into the USA - they recently changed from BBAC - the C for Compass to now in the USA they are known as Compass -

They started in the smaller cities with large Spanish speaking population like Corpus Christie and then moved on to larger cities like El Paso and then Atlanta and now they are all over - they specialize in transferring money from average folks between nations along with other advanced use of technology and their other big push is to make business loans to Spanish speaking American's that fall in the low income bracket -

They are so successful in South America they pushed Citi-Bank out completely and the bit I am having trouble finding more information about is the same guy who was the head of the office for BBAC in Milan was at the same time the lay head of the Vatican Bank - That ties into my observing for years, ever since Midnight Mass was televised back in the 60s - always, every year the front rows behind all the Cardinals is full of the Spanish Royalty -

After, which I still have not finished, it is not an easy read and so much to research while reading, anyhow reading, Adults in the Room: My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment by Yanis Varoufakis opened my eyes to the role of banks and world power. Also what happens to poorer nations without a lot of industry when a collection of nations attempts to establish a common currency and rate for borrowing money as the experience of Greece when they were brought into the European Union.

I've had to take a crash course in Economics and the courses available on Banking even from the Great Courses are woefully lacking in giving a picture of banking on an international level - they talk about the IMF and the World Bank but both are kindergarten in understanding how nations finance themselves and how nations compete with each other. It all boils down to the people who oversee and run these banks, their comradeship and how, right or wrong as Yanis Varoufakis learned they support each other. Banks are becoming each year more and more specialized so the banking system is growing at a faster rate than most industry. In fact industry like nations are all dependent on banks. Learning all this and the whose who controlling essentially the world is blowing my mind.

I'm torn between wanting to continue my entrenchment in reading about all this and reading the challenge books I set for myself - they are interesting but do not have me by the tail as going deeper and deeper into understanding how the world is connected and who are the real power leaders within and among nations.

Ha then I throw my hands in the air and settle down with a quick fun read like  PENITENT: a Scottish murder mystery with a devilish twist (Detective Inspector Munro murder mysteries Book 9) by Pete Brassett

I'm thinking instead of giving my self a hard time I should go with the flow - years back during my school days I ALWAYS had at least 4 books going at the same time - there was one in my bedroom that I would pour over after everyone in the house was sleeping, one in the kitchen to read while washing the dishes (always made sure I washed rather than dry, got my sister to bring the dishes, pots and pans and then she dried) or peeling veggies and fruit (a wonder I didn't constantly nick myself - my saving grace reading while preparing food was I read outloud and my young brother and sister may not have known what I was reading but they liked hearing me read) then one on the back porch which I grabbed when ever I left the house and of course one at school that I often hid behind the book we were reading in class or that I could read when I was bored if I placed it a certain way on my desk.

The only problem now reading several books at the same time is there are no tasks calling me or time restrictions and leaving the house less than all those years driving for my work, I can get into a book and the follow up so that it is too easy to get wrapped into the one subject - always something - I guess like so often, as the saying goes, my eyes are too big for my tummy - maybe so, I heard on some recent PBS show the underground book holding for the British Library in London holds so many books that reading 5 books a day it would take over 800 years to read them all. And that is reading 5 a day - sheesh...
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20305 on: August 14, 2019, 11:01:11 AM »
Wow, Barb, your reading puts me to shame.  I hope you continue the banking as long as it excites you, while all the details are still fresh in your mind.

My reading has mostly been frivolous--science fiction and mysteries, but when I find it in my TBR piles I have a book that fits one of your reading list categories.

Thanks for the Praetorian Guard link.  Rome certainly ended up a political mess, though maybe not any worse than everybody else.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20306 on: August 15, 2019, 12:09:30 PM »
Went forward with my hands in the air  ::) and did an Irish Cozy last night as well as half way into a Scottish mystery - must say the Scottish folks in this story as compared to the Irish are as hard as nails using a flippant attitude to make it less severe - where the Irish seem to take everything in stride but then they have ghosts and fairies pointing out the clues - fun...

What's this I read frybabe something about Police in Philadelphia being shot up - just one clip that I read and only stopped at the article long enough to get a glimpse because several of you know Philly. Seems to me whenever the heat is high there is uproar of one kind or another in large northern cities - I always thought it was because the apartments are not air cooled and folks are on edge.

School starts here next Tuesday - how about where you are - once school starts I know not to try and go anywhere out of the area past 2:30 when buses and moms fill the already busy roads. Hope we have a good rain before next Tuesday that could break the summer heat - forecast is not favorable though - Yesterday and today only hitting 100 but without the breeze that is usual blowing up from the coast all because of the ahum cold front... that lowered us from 104 and 106 - dog days of summer for sure... Well back to the retired Detective Inspector Munro of Islay Scotland and a couple of dead women, one found sealed up in a chimney.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20307 on: August 15, 2019, 02:59:55 PM »
I just began reading, The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White, for my other online book club discussion, to begin at the end of the month.  Seems I keep traveling back in time, to the present lately, with these books. 
 
From the New York Times bestselling authors of The Forgotten Room comes a captivating historical mystery, infused with romance, that links the lives of three women across a century—two deep in the past, one in the present—to the doomed passenger liner, RMS Lusitania.

I have to crack up, the first chapter of this book, an author agrees to attend a face to face book club of wealthy New York elites, only to find out none of them have actually purchased a copy of her book, rather they pirated it off the internet.  She is furious, letting them know how offensive it is to know they couldn't bother to purchase a book, to help the author.  Made me think about how it is today, and how the book stores are hurting, with books being purchased from Amazon, and other online sites that discount the books.  I am not ashamed to admit, I rarely buy a book when it first comes out, and I generally buy used from a site online. 

“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 #20308 on: August 16, 2019, 06:33:08 AM »
Barb, the cops were trying to serve a narcotics warrant. In total six cops were shot and one was injured in a car crash on the way to the scene. The suspect has a long history, including two terms in prison, for various crimes according to the news report. I don't know if he got his weapons legally or not. And I wonder about the involvement of the others that were caught and detained. There will probably be a follow-up on the news today.

Ginny, I had no idea that the Praetorian Guard had so many functions besides being Imperial bodyguards. According to de la Bedoyere their many functions included spying, accounting, engineering, in at least one case the author listed, adjudication of a dispute, advisors, and some cohorts were even on the battlefield with regular troops. There were also a lot more of them than I knew. They grew to maybe 15 or 17 cohorts. Being promoted to a Praetorian cohort had become something of a reward. They were privileged, became powerful, and became factionalized, sometimes fighting against each other as they took sides to promote various men to become Emperor.

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20309 on: August 16, 2019, 11:03:29 AM »
Frybabe, from what I heard on the news, this is one of the highest crime rate areas in north Philadelphia, with drugs being sold rampantly on the streets.  It was sad watching the people in the neighborhood, attack police officers, while they were trying to apprehend this criminal.  He had a rap sheet, and no, he did not obtain his AR-15 assault rifle legally.  As reported, he never would have passed the background check.   
“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

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20310 on: August 16, 2019, 11:35:37 AM »
Bellamarie, you gave me a good laugh with the book club scene.  That would take a lot of gall, especially since they were wealthy, could surely afford the book.

It's a real problem.  What is the balance between an author not getting enough money to be able to continue writing and readers not being able to afford the books they want?  I'm with you--no guilt about buying used, sharing books, feeding books into the used book stream.  I do buy new books too, and feel I feed enough money into the book trade to help keep things going.

jane

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20311 on: August 16, 2019, 12:13:31 PM »
Thank you all for your kind words about the passing of my Ray.  They are much appreciated. 


Remember the Library, too!  [Can you tell I'm a retired librarian?]  Contrary to some people's beliefs, the Libraries pay for the books, magazines they get for their patrons...and often more than the price at bookstores.  So, here in Iowa, some of my tax dollars go to the support of the local library by state law, so patronize your library. Number of patrons, number of borrowings, at least here in Iowa, show the County Supervisors that people DO use the Library. 

When I was on the Library Board, one Supervisor...who came to an Open House and admitted it was the FIRST time he'd ever been in the Library, questioned the number of library patrons in the database and the number of items borrowed.  He was just SURE that that many people didn't come in and borrow books, movies, use the computers, etc.    GRRRR!!! >:(

jane

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20312 on: August 16, 2019, 12:27:52 PM »
Thanks frybabe - did see a bit more on a facebook video but it was still confusing as to what was going on - the video appeared to have been taken by someone using a drone - drugs are ruining so much of life and a community - painful - found it in my own family when I visited - the distant look and slovenly appearance of their home and even the neglect of self - I've been doing a lot of crying and trying to stay positive and lead a full life - We are really lucky that our addiction is books - we may get caught in reading to all hours but for the most part after a day or so of household neglect we do not let it pile up for weeks and months and years - well no sense going down those rabbit holes - I've decided we all want the power to control our lives and when we cannot find it or are dissatisfied with the path our life in on, a quick fix offered seems like a ticket to control the pain and stress but, there are no free lunches. 

Reading that quick online synopsis of the Praetorian Guard and now hearing you say, "They were privileged, became powerful, and became factionalized, sometimes fighting against each other as they took sides to promote various men to become Emperor. " Reminds me of the fall of the Han dynasty. In China the elevated ones were the Eunuchs who gained control by running the government, playing politics and blocking the access of officials to their ruler. During this time in History they were able to easily influence a series of week Emperors. Where their duties were inside the Palace they became so powerful they stopped the most famous General at the time from assembling an army to purge the eunuchs. Looks like the concept of favored folks reaching for more power at the expense of others is a time honored tradition that we are still railing against. 

The police story in Scotland used sarcasm and quick comebacks as the way of communicating but the overall story used that similar lyrical way of forming sentences that I enjoy and is typical of most Irish authors - in fact more in the book by Pete Brassett than Sheila Connolly but then surprise - oh the bliss - picked up from my challenge book basket, Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig and loving it - we read Ivan Doig here on SeniorLearn some years ago but did not pick up at the time the lyrical nature of his writing - maybe it was not so pronounced - but this, having a western taint, using colloquial quips as imagery and metaphors, is still written as close to any Irish author's lyricism as I have ever read.  I think you read it frybabe - only a couple of chapters in - he just got the Minneapolis - so please - please - no spoilers - One thing I did pickup, his adventure although in 1951 reminded me how as youngsters we learned through experience so much as compared to kids today. Today few to no kids would be traveling alone on a bus with money pinned to their inside shirt - you see kids traveling alone on planes but they are looked after by the stewardess and do not leave their seat to get to know others on the plane. Can't wait to read the exchanges and 'wisdom' he thinks through after he meets his Aunt Kate and the husband - from the summery to sell the story it sounds like he and the Uncle take off together in response to his Aunt Kate's way of handling her life. Fun fun and such a joy to read...

Still waiting Ginny on the Whitehall book  - I saw where both he and his son Jack also have a book that is described as showing their comedic views.  Just thought - yes, a good laugh is great to look forward to and we used to get a short chuckle if not a laugh reading the newspaper with the funnies - does any newspaper include a page or even a half page of the funnies any longer? I know most are online but I do not think the online news includes the funnies - hmm maybe the thing to do would be find a web site with the funnies and share it on a regular basis - here the big push is to get back to people waving - folks want to lighten up - always when driving we did a one or two finger wave to anyone we passed and for sure, a bigger wave to a neighbor much less if someone passed our house while we were out front and there would be a howdy or morning or evening exchanged - some folks never stopped and many new to the area sorta look at you like you may sprout horns any minute but a large group of us talk about it on our neighborhood page and are determined to bring us together again with a wave.  The wave and the Sunday funnies - yep, that and a few fun books would salt us down nicely.   

Still need to look into McCullough's Pioneers... He always writes a good story weaving together his in-depth research - Interesting how today we do not think of that part of our country as the West. I'm thinking back, wow I bet over 60 years ago when the blockbuster movie came out How The West Was Won - Did y'all see it - seems to me it was featured because of some new movie making devise - maybe it was the sound - I do remember we drove over to Louisville on Thanksgiving weekend to see it since Lexington did not have a theater equipped to play it - Do y'all still have pictures in your head of scenes from that move - one I carry is when they were going down a river on a raft, fighting harrowing waves and rapids and so, when I saw the title of McCullough's book that movie came to mind.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20313 on: August 16, 2019, 12:32:52 PM »
Wow Jane I bet that was a shock to hear someone who is in charge of things and had never stepped into a library - thank goodness our local branch is on the list for a makeover - hard to go in there now with all the homeless taking up either the chairs and sofas or the computers - we have a wonder at the original site but no way to park near the door - do not think I can any longer walk that far - may get an Uber driver to take me to the front door - I'll figure out something because the library is really a wonder.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20314 on: August 16, 2019, 06:35:41 PM »
Jane, I suspect there is a lot of that - people on boards (and not just libraries) that have no clue what they are actually overseeing. Be on a couple of boards, looks good on a resume. Sometimes these people are roped into it by their bosses, makes the company look good. I know, I am being snarky.

One of the things our library branch manager does is go through books brought into the library before turning them over to the Friends of the Library bookstore down the hall. She looks for relatively new books that the library doesn't already have or can use more of because of the enduring popularity of the author/book. She keeps an eye on how many books are in the library system as well so that she doesn't take up precious shelf space with something the other branches already have plenty of or don't get borrowed very much. She does catch a few keepers now and again.

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20315 on: August 17, 2019, 12:08:11 AM »
Jane, I love my local libraries, and visit them frequently, along with Barnes and Noble and Books A Million.  I love the feel of the library and book stores.  I also use my Libby app to borrow from my library.  Our main library is under renovation, so I wasn't able to take the two little grandkids there for a visit this summer.  It reopens on Sept. 28th and I can't wait to see what they have done with it.  I thought it was already fabulous, so I can't imagine what the new changes will be.  Our libraries also have face to face book clubs for seniors during the day, which I have yet to attend, but am thinking about doing.  I also purchase the used books our library sells, it's especially fun when it's the annual $1.00 @ bag full. I also like how some of our libraries have added comfy chairs, coffee and snack machines.  It gives you the feel of being at a book cafe.

PatH., I found that scene funny also.  The poor girl/author was starving, and had to run blocks and blocks in her high heels, she got there late, all the food was being taken away, no one had touched any of the fancy finger foods, she tried to reach for a small sandwich while the servants were taking away the trays.  lolol   

Interestingly, the three authors of The Glass Ocean book are Goodreads authors. I wonder if that had anything to do with writing, about the author depends on people to purchase their books.
https://www.goodreads.com/

“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 #20316 on: August 17, 2019, 09:14:24 AM »
Barbara, if  you want to cancel the order, I'll send you my Whitehall,  it's a paperback and I'm through with it.

REALLY glad to have our  Jane back!

 Frybabe, does de la Bédoyère give any citations for those theories or are they just his?

There's a marvelous film on youtube of a lecture by  Gregory Aldrete at Emory on Cicero's in Catilinam which, despite Dr. Aldrete's somewhat odd appearance is absolutely fabulous, really the best I've ever seen, on analyzing  the art of political speech-making regardless of the facts. Style over substance, appeal to emotions, etc. etc.  It's amazing how much we in 2019, coming into an election year,  have not  learned ONE thing more than  those primitive Iron Age barbarians knew 2000+ years ago.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20317 on: August 17, 2019, 01:46:07 PM »
Ginny, that is one more thing I don't like about histories in audio books. I have yet to find one that lists any citations other than the sources he refers to in the book proper. Some of the sources, other than surviving texts and authors he mentions in the book proper, are coins and gravestones. So, again, I don't at this point rec recommend any scholarly endeavors in audio form unless they come with additional downloadable material or you also have the printed text on hand (some people do like to do this). De la Bedoyere does make an educated guess or two from physical evidence, but cautions that some of the evidence may simply pertain to that particular person or cohort at a particular place and time and not necessarily to the Guards as a whole.  I would love to see some pix of the coins and gravestones to which he refers. I may just go and find a used copy of the print text. I just checked the "look inside" feature at Amazon. The print book does have a bunch of pix, four appendices , and a ton of notes.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20318 on: August 17, 2019, 02:43:46 PM »
Thanks Ginny I am too far into the order now - it is on its way - where I do not know since few of these resales show the journey - but it is fine I am so enjoying Last Bus to Wisdom -

I've just started the last section where Herman/Uncle Dutch sits next to Donal on the 'dog' (Greyhound bus) and together they plot out how Donal will get his weekly letter to his grandmother as if he is still with Aunt Kate - after Herman snatched the letter from the mailbox - after Aunt Kate was telling her sister that she was sending Donal back before his grandmother (Kate's sister) was back on her feet - after her surgery, which meant Donal would at minimum go into foster care. Kate announced to Donal when he was told to pack that she had already contacted several orphanages and suggested to them the child could not be cared for by his grandmother. And with all that we are hearing this from a boy of 11 going on 12 point of view whose background is, you-do-what-you-have-to-do and so there is no maudlin in the story, some fear but that is immediately balanced with him thinking, how does he fix this latest bit of bad luck plus he meets some 'angles' along his road in life and Herman/Uncle Dutch is one of them.

Been awhile since I wanted to stretch out reading a book I was so enjoying the telling.

Yep, you discovered what I decided as well frybabe - difficult to read a serious book online - as you noted the missing references but then the placemarks do not use page numbers that coincide with the written book - all this makes me wonder how kids are using online textbooks - maybe that is it, they are just getting a surface peek at whatever they are studying and are so used to a consolidated summery of the subject they are shallow and limited in their discussions and they have no clue they are shallow and limited since that is how they learned in school. hmm Maybe it is us having an expectation of what would be involved in reading and learning - few seem to know their history and see everything as a new dilemma - maybe that is it - we keep repeating history no matter if we learn it or not...

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #20319 on: August 19, 2019, 04:59:56 PM »
Am I the only one watching Father Brown, Season 7? It got off to a slow start but that Episode 5 of Season 7, The Darkest Noon was wonderful in every way, right up there with the best of them. Wonderful spooky old house,  mystery invitation, and unexpected  events, just wonderful.

That looks promising, Frybabe.  That's one thing I really like about Wiseman. If he says something as fact, advances a theory, he gives right there on the page the citation, written out in the original and translated: old timey scholarship and it really shows.

I'm between books and for some reason have picked up Jurassic Park.  I had just seen the first Jurassic World movie, with Chris Pratt,  I think they've made a second, to go with the...how many series of Jurassic Park, but I don't think I have ever read Jurassic Park itself. I don't like Michael Crichton (but I did  like The Andromeda Strain) but so far I am enjoying it, you've got the movie in your mind so you more enjoy the writing, and he starts (it's 25 years old, an Anniversary issue) with modern science (25 years ago and how it's unregulated) , it's quite interesting.

I hate being "between books," you have to leave a  place in your mind  that engrossed  you and nothing seems to take its place, nothing is quite right.

Did you all see Barnes and Noble, in the stores and online is having a big sale  called #BNBookHaul? Members get first pick this...is it  Thursday and Friday?? and then the public can start next week is it? 50 percent OFF "select titles only?"