The Library

[BarbStAubrey]

Goodness I do need to learn how to express myself better in writing - I thought I was sharing how laughable it is that the palatha of websites all have differing opinions and conflicting messages so that finding truth is a chore - not laugh at as you say Ginny the destruction and death taking place that we are seeing...  that is hard to read that is what you think of me... wow...

[ginny]

Barbara, I am sorry that somehow you think what I said has anything whatsoever  to do with you  personally?  It does not. And that was not what was intended, nor  the focus of what I said.

That IS, however, my opinion of all the junk circulating on the Internet and especially some of the TV channels, with this tragedy going on,  and I'll go further and say I think some of what they are saying is dangerous to the country, given the credulous nature exhibited by some  of our citizens,  and I hope it's OK  TO have an opinion on it, and, since others are expressing their opinions, to express mine, too. I am, in effect, agreeing with you.

Pax, we don't need a war here too.

[Frybabe]

Good morning, everyone. Nice to see some activity here.

Speaking of the "fog of war" with all its propaganda and misdirection and opinions (informed or not), accusations and provocations, the emotional outpouring of grief and anxiety, and the reactions (whether knee-jerk or well thought out) to war, I just finished Stephen Frys' audio take on the Trojan War. Troy, the third book of his Mythology series, is highly entertaining IMO. One of the most interesting bits was the explanation for the word Murmidones  which referred to the army accompanying Achilles in battle. The word is from the Greek mýrmēx. Fry referred to Achilles army as AntPeople. Well, I can picture that. Hordes of soldiers swarming across the plain towards your castle might appear  like an army of ants, especially from a distance. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. Highly recommended for those who enjoy Mythology. I wonder if he plans on doing more myths, Norse certainly, but maybe some of the lesser known myths from around the world.

I have yet to pick out my next audio listen and I am almost done with Alastair Reynolds House of Suns which will launch a search for my next library borrow. Another break from reading SciFi, I've just started a Western novel called 1874: Columbia River Posse by R. J. Bessonette. Bessonette made a lovely dedication to his maternal grandmother who had passed on her experience and knowledge of those times. It is a murder mystery set in Washington state.

[PatH]

The Myrmidons were more than just ant-like as a horde; they were descended from ants.  Zeus had transformed the ants into men and women to repopulate an island destroyed by plague. 

[PatH]

Frybabe, I had no idea you started to read science fiction so recently as Scalzi.  You've really concentrated on it.  I'm not sure when I started, sometime in the 1940s, but by now I'm pretty sure you've way passed me in volumes read.

Jane, I hope those awful tornadoes didn't get near you.  What a mess.

[jane]

No, we had tornado warnings, but they missed me.  Scary time, to be sure.

[BarbStAubrey]

Ok thanks Ginny I've become as sensitive as many hearing any political opinion - I still see this war as a mixed up state of affairs - As frybabe brought up the Trojan War as an analogy, the other night I watched Secrets of Her Majesty's Secret Service - the power struggle between Cecil and Essex along with all the other players - best was hearing the commentator say that time in history was Theater for power - the machinations in this Elizabethan theater for power reminded me of today - from corporations to world institutions, nations and within nations - there appears to be as much killing for and over power as in Elizabeth I 'theater' - the only difference today death is not as brutal - seeing it from these historical perspectives brings up other opinions about the behavior of various actors - however, I think opinion on current events is probably not Senior Learn Library conversation - I'm so much more at ease reading and talking about books   

Have not started yet but, could not pass on David Guterson's East of the Mountains that I downloaded on the strength of one of our earliest reads in this group Snow Falling on Cedars - Evidently he has been diagnosed with an end to life illness and takes a journey traveling over the western part of the US.

Still wrapped up in The Wild Silence - as she researching her husband's illness who was doing much better when they were hiking the Coastal Path - his illness has some of the same issues as those with Alzheimer and she came across a paper that does not have as much research to make it a given but the research does show that Green plants give off a chemical that affects humans and improved and stabilized Alzheimer patients - The suggestion is we should all have live green plants in our homes and make ourselves walk or exercise in a natural environment regardless how tired or lethargic we feel - together they also realized when they were walking they did not eat as much, part of the reason was their budget and how much food they could carry - this second book is after their long distance hike and they have a place to stay after loosing their home and he his job that prompted the hike - Her descriptions of nature and its settings are so lyrical that alone would be enough to enjoy the read... she mentions as a child she read Murray's Copsford and so I've downloaded it as well.

Glad you escaped Jane - we had 80 degree temps today and tomorrow it will be lucky if it gets out of the 50s - What is that saying? - Something March comes in like a lamb goes out like a lion and we had a lamb day on March 1 - oh dear... what about you Jane was your March 1 a lamb or a lion day... 

Seems to me I read at one time that after a forest fire kills off everything the first to rebuild are the ants - And so maybe Achilles Myrmidons had more science behind them then anyone imagined. 

I'm so delighted with figuring out a solution - been packing my needlework that includes several unfinished pieces in frames and on stands - could not figure out how to pack them since boxes were a few inches shy of width that no matter how I placed the frames without the stands they just did not fit - tra la - realized those under the bed storage whatever would work 23 inches long and tra la 17 1/2 inches wide - purchased two of them for less than $10 and the arrived today - I also have bunches of the wire elfa under shelf baskets in several of my closets that I was just going to leave and realized I could use them instead of paying for boxes but they have no top - again a tra la - found commercial strength zip ties 22 inches long that I can tie a few across the top of the 15" and 17" width of these baskets to keep the contents from popping out - 60 ties for less than $8.50 I'm so excited to have figured out solutions that had me by the tail for a few days.

[Frybabe]

Pat, I have read some Science Fiction off and on since at least high school but didn't really get going until, what, maybe ten years ago? I remember reading 1984 when I was in high school. Back then I don't think they classified it as Science Fiction. Most of my SciFi reading early on were short stories, the first of which may have been Arthur C. Clarke's "A Meeting with Medusa". I found that one in Playboy magazine. Yes, Playboy had some good articles, cartoons and stories. Other early reads were Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. so, early short stories interspersed occasionally with novels (most notably Rendezvous with Rama and Martian Chronicles) over quite a span of time until it really took hold. Of course, watching all those Star Trek TV shows and others since helped to suppress my SciFi reading for quite a while. I credit Scalzi and his Agent to the Stars to to revive my SciFi reading and left me craving for more.

I have recently been trying to get back to including other genres with some success. Ancient History never really got slighted that much, but I have been adding more recent history to my early minor collection of Medieval and British History as well. My collection of Westerns have been neglected for too long, but is now vying for attention. So, my current plan is to have one SciFi going, a library read which is most often history or mystery, and my audio books which are mostly a mix of Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Westerns, History, and Great Courses.

It amused me to see that I am not the only one that is addicted to overuse of commas. The Western I am reading now seems overly full of commas where not needed.

Ginny, my local library has a print version only of East of the Mountains. I am going to put it on my wish list for now. It sounds so much more interesting to me than Snow Falling on Cedars.

[PatH]

Frybabe, you're in good company if you overuse commas.  I think they edit some of them out now, but the copies of Jane Austen I read first had them sprinkled around with wild abandon.  I use a lot of commas too, but my weakness is the semicolon.

[BarbStAubrey]

Very interesting - picked up from the daily inexpensive Book offerings by Amazon the Kindle copy of Running: A Novel by Randolph Rhett - it was so right on of life for those in their late 20s and early 30s it was closer to a documentary than a novel - Since that is the age range of my grands I was glued and read it in one sitting - all the platitudes (as they are considered now) of how to obtain success in life are out the window and so those of us from an earlier generation cannot understand why if you do this and such all should be well and there must be something wrong with whom ever if they are not having an OK life - it has all changed - and yes, I see these changes affecting all 5 of my grands although they have not reached the longer work history that the book further describes -

Yes, we have armed them with the best home life filled with play days, families adopting change using therapy, tutors to get into the best colleges and the best education through out and none of it matters - this is a fabulous account of what they are experiencing with the backdrop of what we expected from all that effort as well as, they expected so much after receiving the best however, the best is not the passport to the success that is still just out of their reach -

Better is to back off and look forward to a good life. Regardless the Harvard or Yale benchmark to make the right connections - today you bring with you the connections you have and the other is a closed club that the closed club life experience is not the Holy Grail either...they all have serious problems coping often with drugs, the easy 'feel better' solution that ends up being a drain to a personal sewer... Just living a drug free life without the Stella position and career appears to be the answer to a good life... no wonder college admissions, especially among males is way down - others have figured it out.

Interesting read - worth the $2.99

[Frybabe]

Pat, I am so excited! I just found out that Steven Baxter and Alastair Reynolds did a sequel to Arthur C. Clarke's A Meeting with Medusa. It is called The Medusa Chronicles and has been in publication since at least 2016. How did I miss that?

I've just begun reading Carlo Rovelli's Reality is Not What it Seems. However, I am going to have to keep in mind that the book is about his version of quantum gravity, called the Quantum Loop Gravity Theory, of which he is a founder. I also discovered that this guy theorizes that time does not exist. Alrighty then! Maybe I should start with is earlier works first. He seems to have published a lot.

[Frybabe]

Just in! My audio read got picked for me. Red Notice by Bill Browder just dropped into my library cue. Browder, a financier and political activist, wrote about his fight with Russian financial corruption and Russian retaliation over his shareholder's rights activism. I will probably start listening to it this evening.

[Frybabe]

Today's mutterings:

I dropped Red Notice already. I might try it later in Ebook form rather than via the audio book I borrowed. It might have been partly because the narrator used a constant voice of disgust or if being ticked-off. Well, I suppose I would be too had I had something like that happen to me. Then again, the subject matter is not something I want to deal with right now. It turns out that the author is the grandson of Earl Browder who was General Secretary of the Communist Party USA for fifteen years. The author himself is a financier and political activist.

Reality is Not What it Seems is interesting and very readable. But then, I am still reading the historical background chapters, so my brain isn't twisted into knots yet.  Getting closer though, I have gotten to Einstein.

John Scalzi's newest SciFi, KAIJU Preservation Society, just released yesterday morning. In the afternoon, I checked my online library and discovered they have a copy already. And just as quickly, there is a six month wait.

Also yesterday, I discovered that the first of my daffodils are blooming.

[Frybabe]

My daffodils are in full bloom and the grass (with weeds) is growing. Soon it will be time to get out and mow and fix my front flower bed, assuming it gets a wee warmer and the damp/wet abates enough. The side porch on the garage side is betting a bunch of hosta replanted  to it from the backyard. This year I hope to get some yard help with the heavy bags, mowing and trimming.

Now on to my current reading:

The Last Monument by Michael C, Grumley - the first of a mystery series where the protagonistis an agent of the NTSB.

Ancient Empires before Alexander, a Great Courses lecture series by Robert L. Dise, Jr. He speaks with humor; it is quite entertaining as well as informative.

Near future reading:

I am about to embark on another library read, but haven't quite decided yet. However, The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel and Embers of War (non-fiction) by Fredrik Logevall have been on my wishlist for quite some time and are beckoning.

Yea! My online library got five more of John Sclazi's new book, so now I only have about a six week wait instead of six months.


 

[ginny]

 And I, for once, also have something new to read in the fiction category, in fact 3:
A Pillar of Iron which the Cicero class thought they'd try in installments, an old old book by Taylor Caldwell, but apparently very well written,  we'll see how it holds out against this class as they have read a LOT of Cicero, but not his letters.

I have a "THING" about historical fiction (except for Hilary Mandel) hahahaa and so it's going to be a push.

I read about The Club by Ellery LLoyd, tried a bit of it out,  and got  hooked. It's a Reese's book club Selection, (according to the cover, whatever that is?) But it's a thriller about a sort of...exclusive club ("that people are dying to get into,") which offers everything you can possibly imagine, long waiting list just to go stay there, kind of an Adults  Disney World Cum WestWorld) and then things go horribly wrong.

I have NOT read far,  so if it's absolutely AWFUL nobody should blame me, but it's fun so far,  for the odd moments. Reviews are WILDLY varied from one star to 5. I guess you either love it or hate it.

My Daughter in Law lent me her The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer, which is a "tale of art theft, forgery, and murder exploring the secrets of the 1911  Theft of the Mona Lisa."  She enjoyed it. It's fiction, based on a true story. It looks good but I really have not started it yet.

[Frybabe]

I decided on The High Mountains of Portugal as my library read. Suffering from a profound grief and melancholia which came from the deaths of his young son, his girlfriend, and his father all within a week or so, the main character of the first story - there are three loosely connected  according to reviews - discovers a diary which speaks to him of loss, melancholy and homesickness. He has found a like soul, even though the writer was centuries ago. It begins a quest to track down a religious artifact he found mentioned in the old diary. There is humor here as well. The description of his uncle's new car (which he calls the Iberian Rhino) has me chuckling. So far, I am enjoying the book very much. More, I think, than The Life of Pi. I missed a lot of the allegory what was supposedly in that book.

[Frybabe]

Remember when we did the poems and songs in Latin class? This clip reminded me of that. This is a history of Allegri's Miserere and the changes that were made to it over time. I actually prefer the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6hD8YtO5HI

I sent The High Mountains of Portugal back to the library. After I got into it a bit, I realized I read it before, at least the first bit. As I recall, the second part I didn't care for much. It turns out that this book is actually three separate, but very loosely connected stories.

The Last Monument, which I did finish was okay, but it has a definite Indiana Jones feel to it. That shouldn't be surprising since the old notes that they were following were from a real time explorer who was the inspiration for Indiana Jones series, The Lost City of Z, and some believe the inspiration for H. G. Wells, The Lost World. Anyway, after a while the main characters became a little bit annoying. They supposedly have expertise in their chosen fields but are all too gullible even after a number suspicious coincidences which they acknowledged by then completely ignored. I may or may not rea

[BarbStAubrey]

Thanks for filling us in on The High Mountains of Portugal - I was almost going to order it last week and kept hesitating - thank goodness - Indiana Jones is not where I'm at these days... Could not pass up the Bio of Lady Bird Johnson - appears she had far more influence than most of us imagined and then this month's freebee for being a Prime member I chose what this time looks to me like a book to enjoy The Last Goddess - rough first couple of pages but then it becomes a curiosity - what is this all about - takes place in the mountains of Slovakia - looking forward to my afternoon reading time... 

[Frybabe]

The Monument Man was the Indiana Jones style book, Barb, not The High Mountains of Portugal. Sorry if I confused you.

I really debated The Last Goddess, but finally settled on At the Quiet Edge instead.

[BarbStAubrey]

[Frybabe]

Well, that just about sums my life up, except substitute tea for the coffee.

So, what am I reading now?

Ghost Fleet by P. W. Singer. It it is a military thriller published in 2015 that is, considering what is going on right now, set in the now or near future. It skips around to different areas and people which include a Russian political dignitary in China, freedom fighters and a Chinese crime detective in Hawaii, espionage efforts at the Pentagon, and various naval and tech war efforts in California. It is a pretty good book.

John Scalzi's latest book, The Kaiju Preservation Society, that is about an animal rights organization which operates both in this world and in a parallel universe where the Kaiju (fictional monsters, think Godzilla and friends here) exist. I just downloaded it, so I haven't started reading it yet. It should be fun to read. Scalzi's sense of humor really comes out Agent to the Stars, Redshirts, and Fuzzy Nation so I am expecting a good laugh or two or three or four with this one too.

Yet another SciFi series set in the Galaxy's Edge universe called Ruins of the Galaxy written by J. N. Chaney and Christopher Hopper. Unfortunately, it is a nine-book series, and I am only into book three now. I say unfortunately, because it is taking a while to get through it. While I have an urge to quit reading it because I don't care for humans with superpowers type stories, I keep going because Chaney and Hopper are so good at character development and world building, not to mention very good proofreading and editing. Still, I don't think I can handle nine books of this.

My audio listen is The Last Watch by J. S. Dewes. It is set, so far, on a border post station (yes, another SciFi), keeping guard against a much feared invasion from the void beyond. The inhabitants of this posting are, for the most part, criminals, many of whom are former military. The main character is a prince who never served in the military but who was getting into trouble. It is not as bad as it sounds. I am enjoying it.

Started but on hold until I finish the above library audiobook is Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar. Not so much math in this one, so far, it follows the history and debate about Quantum physics. Interesting, easier to follow than some books about Quantum physics, but then I am only up to Einstein and Bohr.

[BarbStAubrey]

Looks to me like you frybabe and that cat are in sinc - that looks like string attached to a teabag in the graphic which is not typical of someone drinking coffee   

Last night downloaded and only started to read Now We Shall Be Entirely Free A British soldier flees to the Hebrides for reprieve from war while something else hunts for him in this historical thriller by the author of The Crossing. Lots of atmospheric sentences with so far very little telling what is going on - if this keeps up it is going to be a slow pull to learn the issue much less sort out the mystery.

[Frybabe]

Barb, I put Now We Shall Be Entirely Free in my library wish list. It sounds good. I just yesterday downloaded First Impressions by Charlie Lovett. It is a mystery centered around Jane Austen.

I've finished both The Ghost Fleet, which was good, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending. It seemed a little abrupt, like there was something missing between the main story and the epilogue.

I really liked listening to The Last Watch. There is a sequel out called The Exiled Fleet, which I hope will be made into an audio book, and a third scheduled for next year. J. S. Dewes also has a book called Rubicon coming out soon. I don't know what that is about, but it sounds like it will be more light, humor infused SciFi.

Okay, now for the thumbs down. Sad to say that John Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society was less than I expected of it. Well, then, I was never much for Godzilla type monster stories, but his usual snarky humor seemed to be mostly missing. As for the Galaxy's Edge offshoot series I was reading, I finally gave up on it. Too much couched in wizardry and superpowers to suit me. I did try to like these two, but ultimately for me, they were a no go.

I am now back to listening to Quantum and just starting two new reads, the previously mentioned First Impressions and The Devil's Waters by David L. Robbins. The last is billed as "A USAF Pararescue Thriller".

Has anyone noticed the shift to using "them" when a character is not defined as male or female? I hate this. What a lazy cop-out. Them is a plural pronoun meant for multiple groups of people or objects, as in more than one. This new use jars me to no end. I have no idea why they don't invent a new singular pronoun for gender undefined or gender-neutral single individuals instead.

 

[PatH]

Frybabe, I'm disappointed about the Scalzi.  It doesn't sound like my kind of thing either.  Let us know how First Impressions is.  If it's any good, I'd like it.  Stephanie Barron wrote a series of about half a dozen mysteries involving Jane Austen as detective, which are pretty good if you're an Austen fan.  And P. D. James, author of the Inspector Dalgliesh mysteries wrote Death Comes to Pemberley, which shows the characters from P and P a few years on.

We've long needed a non-gendered pronoun for referring to people whose gender isn't known, for whatever reason, but I agree that "them" is a mistake.  And now we don't have a clear plural pronoun.  Erick suggested that it would be "thems", and I'm afraid he's right.

I've read almost nothing worth commenting on lately.  The exception is a book sort of by Barbara Pym, An Academic Question.  Pym wrote a draft during a fallow time, using the first person.  Dissatisfied, she tried the third person, then made a number of notes, and then left it unpublished.  Hazel Holt took this mixture of incompletes and boiled them together into a book, told in the first person.  It's not bad, but it isn't quite Pym.  Perhaps the first person is less suited to Pym's subtle understatement.  The narrator is a college professor's wife, and the plot deals mainly with academic rivalries.

[Frybabe]

PatH, First Impressions switches back and forth between modern day and 1796 or there abouts. I gave up reading the 1796 bits except for skimming a few pages here and there and am concentrating on the modern-day mystery even though the stories converge at some point. It just seemed a bit boring to me. Although I continue to read the modern-day half, I am a little "miffed" at the lead character for letting her hormones dictate who she believes. Come to think of it, I read another book (I forget which and who the author was) some time ago with the protagonist being led around by her hormones instead of her brain, making excuses for the questionable actions of her paramour. I will be finishing the book because I want to know "who done it".

BTW, I see that the next Liaden Universe book is out. Fair Trade is part of the Jethri Gobelyn line and there is another to come called Trade Lanes in that series. Also listed to come is Salvage Right which spans both the Clan Korval and Theo Whatley lines. I am debating whether or not to buy the newest considering how I felt about the last one or two books.

I was disappointed in the latest Scalzi, too, Pat. It just doesn't hold up to his Agent to the Stars, Redshirts, Fuzzy Nation . and even bits of Old Man's War, especially the beginning. I do wish he would write more of his Lock In series and his Dispatcher series. The two Dispatcher books were written especially for Audible; the first has since been published in print.

[Frybabe]

Barb, Now We Shall Be Entirely Free is hard to put down.

[BarbStAubrey]

been wrapped up with a visit from my nephew - he is taking a road trip and first time he has had time to drive west - he is a 9/11 EMS survivor and all I see is a broken man - he left yesterday and I've been crying ever since.

[PatH]

Oh, Barb, that's hard to take, isn't it.

[Frybabe]

My heart goes out to your nephew, Barb. Events like that are almost impossible to put aside. Some, whether carrying physical or mental injuries, just hide their trauma better than others. I do hope he is enjoying his road trip.

[BarbStAubrey]

Thanks Pat and Frybabe - nothing I can do or for that matter any of us - probably needs loads of therapy but he is trying to work through it along with some childhood abandonment issues by eating and all the health issues that come with over eating and all the behavior issues that come with any compulsive obsession - like many he is looking for family members to make him feel better and no one has in their kit bag what he wants or needs - all I can do is pray and cry - well it does no one any good for me to shut down and memorialize his pain - I need to do my part adding rather than retreating - and so onward...

Interesting reading Now We Shall Be Entirely Free - reminds me of Brendan only he has not gotten to the place where he plays his music - he not only seeks out other EMS survivors but seems to spend 90% of his time in his Notebook and on his Cell phone - which I see as an avoidance to his thoughts, feelings and the reality around him - nothing any of us can say but can't help noticing and commenting - at least he is with it enough to earn a living because now I can see how those living on the street are not only broken but avoiding reality.

The book bubs today had a kindle version of Icelandic Tales and I was tempted till I realized some books I prefer reading from a hand held hard copy and that would be one - I'm thinking I need some tales rather than reality - I bet frybabe and Pat that is what you both get out of reading fantasy - where as I prefer the myths and ancient tales.

[Frybabe]

My reading on myths and folktales isn't extensive but I've managed to read some. My list includes Beowulf, The Poetic Edda, The Nibelungenlied, The Odessey, The Iliad, and various bits of other Greek, Roman and Egyptian myths, and last but not least, The Mabinogion. Oddly, I have not been so interested in reading the Norse god myths. Off and on I have thought to pick up something about Oriental (including India) and Native American myths, but have yet to follow through. I believe the Māori and Australian Aboriginals have a rich history in myths. My Dad was the one who was interested in Egyptian and Mayan history and myths, much more so than I.

I am beginning to fear for John Lacroix. He seems to be spiraling down at an ever quickening pace. Lots of guilt and PTSD there to help him along his downward path.

Oh, and my sister just gave me World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time, editors: Katharine Washburn, John S. Major, and Clifton Fadiman (General Editor), published in 1998. It smells like it has been sitting next to one of her potpourri containers and looks like it was never opened. 1238 page not including the acknowledgements and index which adds another 100 pages.

[BarbStAubrey]

Your further ahead than I am - will be reading tomorrow - nothing on TV on Saturday evening any longer - John's journey into madness would have been a book to listen to I'm thinking - we'll see if it is madness or just part of his emotional journey...

Just heard from my nephew and finally I can breath - he is on the road and sounds good - of course like many today he does not believe in prayers but that is my only connection to feeling like I can influence the atoms and so I can slow down and just keep him in my daily prayer rather than the anxiety I was feeling since he left here... The book hits so many of the issues with John that I see in Brendan - I'm beginning to see the wheel of time is not just a prayer tool for Tibetans - there is wisdom in the wheels that this book is allowing me to see the repetition of life experiences imprints each generation. 

Amazing how this fell into your post - looked up the Book you sister gave you - The anthology - and directly below in the list of Amazon anthology's of poetry was When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry this anthology is gathered by Joy Harjo one of my favorite poets - here you only just referred to your curiosity about Native American myths although, Joy Harjo is a poet of today as I bet are most of the poets she has included in her anthology - I have noticed though just about all Native American poets are so formed by their Native myths that are the basis for their understanding of the world that it creeps into all their art, written or other.

[BarbStAubrey]

Still immersed in Now We Shall Be Entirely Free and looking up words that are new - while on his Beach walk with Emily they talk about what happened in France, he says, "bad actors like Collot" - had never heard the name and simply looking up who he is and learned the French Revolution is a far wider story than I ever realized - I've heard the word Jacobite but did not know the extent that politics and actors riling up crowds played - This Collot was evidently an adversary and competitor rival to Robespierre - of course next I will have to read up on the war that we all refer to as a simple uprising of the people who stormed the Bastille.   

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Marie-Collot-dHerbois

[BarbStAubrey]

The more I look into this the more fascinating it becomes - even most history texts start with the decision to do away with Louis XVI - there was an entire story of political groups, some formalized and some simply a collection of like minded - there were 4 major groups - so many various opinions - had no idea - some for and some against the monarchy -

And then it was not just a spontaneous uprising which is how I was given to understand - there were folks who were gifted writers, and actors who could persuade the public - all the marketing of an idea followed by action that we see among opposing groups today -

One of the books that appears to be inclusive is available resale for an affordable price, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama an author we have read I think the huge tome Rembrandt however, I found for only .99  The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - and a freebee History of the Girondists, Volume I Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution

I'm now wondering if reading books with an English setting about this time period I've missed an undercurrent - I knew the English were afraid of this kind of revolution coming to Britain however, all the political machinations that started the whole thing in France would probably be more the consideration for concern than just a citizens uprising. Plus it seems the Jacobite's were involved somehow in France and the Jacobites were the Scots that the Brits fought and won in the preceding century...

I knew Thomas Paine was involved and his book influenced our American Revolution and the writing of our Declaration of Independence but I did not know he barely missed the guillotine.

From the little I've read so far what really floors me is how it was not an organic uprising of citizens - but an orchestrated uprising of citizens.

[BarbStAubrey]

Wow - did you finish reading yet Frybabe - don't want to give away any spoilers - but to the bitter end it does not stop - whew quite a skilled writer using a new method of stringing out sleuthing an edge of your seat mystery - What is the message when all is said and done...

[Frybabe]

Barb, I reread your second post of May 12. It reminded me that I, just last evening, watched another episode of the Great Courses series about the history of Eastern Europe. This particular episode was focused on the role poets played in historical events. This included Lord Byron. Anyway, many of these poets, whom I never heard of, actually became leaders in various uprisings and wars.

Yes, the book. What an astonishing end. It leaves you wondering. The book hit several areas of interest, the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), the Highland Clearances (forced emigration not mentioned as such in the book), and the practice of kidnapping and forcing men to serve on the navel ships.

I've just started reading C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet which is the first of a space science fiction trilogy. I didn't know he wrote and SciFi, so I thought I'd give it a look.

The audiobook, Quantum, is finished. It focused more on the physicists and mathematicians and their interactions rather than the science itself. To be sure there was some math and theory, but it was mostly to show the interactions between these great minds in their quest for understanding the universe. Oddly, it never mentioned Schrodinger's cat, using one or two other similar examples of the thought experiment instead. I could see the philosophical elements of these mathematical quantum concepts without having to worry about knowing the actual math/calculus involved. So, now on to something else.

[BarbStAubrey]

Yes, I knew about actually as I understand it was press-gangs that grabbed men even here, mostly small boatman about their daily fishing rounds, before we were a nation - but the ships sailing for Canada I did not catch as having to do with the emptying of the Highlands - Had no idea that Canada had a population of Scotsmen - I knew it was too early for the mass Irish migration so thanks for filling me in...

After sleeping on that ending I realized a personal aha - Calley is like bad things that happen and the last words in the book from Emily hit me that is never stops - the idea if this or that would only - the 'only' never happens and the this or that continues  repeating in another fashion so that it never stops till we stop. I tend knee jerk reaction to be a family fixer - and like home maintenance - it never stops - it's going to be what it is and there is no finding a final end to it is there - huh an awful comparison but even Hitler's final solution never finalized what he thought was the cause and even the Jewish people who said after the holocaust 'never again' and here it is starting up again. It is what it is and when the Calley's in life come along we use resources and powers that we usually do not call upon - however the concept there are winners and killing off losers is unsettling - is that what life is - choosing winners - we sure do it with out health and search out like Emily did the latest understanding to assist us in ridding our body of what is damaging out abilities - Maybe just questioning the morality of what are winners - but then what to do with those who represent danger - wow this is like re-visiting the story of Cain and Abel - goodness this story really hit the basics

Change subject - The book I started that is based on Quantum is Why Quantum Physicists Do Not Fail by Greg Kuhn - he uses a fish tank as the way to explain life and our perception of our lives versus what Quantum says is our life. I can take so much and then I have to leave it for awhile - been reading it on and on for a year now and only up to chapter 5, because I too had to read a couple of other books to grasp what this is all about - Carlo Rovelli has a couple of books that again I started but I get tangled up trying to make sense of it all. Since back in my learning-how-to-teach days and learning then as adults we learn by comparing the new to something we already know there is nothing in my prior 'knowing'/learning that I can use to compare to Quantum. Inch by inch of understanding is all I expect at this point but from what I do understand it sure turns my concept of life on its head.

What is that myth about we humans are living on the back of some monster size sea turtle - at this point after reading some of the Quantum ideas I would believe anything... However, I also wonder how the thought about we are words, what we think and is how we describe our life and surroundings is our reality fits with Quantum - If words do the job described, than as Adrienne Rich says in a poem from Dream of the Common Language - My heart is moved by all I cannot see. So much has been destroyed. I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world... Or C.S.Lewis's tale of Aslan and the Witch of Narnia when the Lion gave his life in exchange for a traitorous boy, and the Witch gloats because she knows that nothing can overturn the Law and the Deep Magic from the dawn of Time - however, when the grieving girls came to retrieve the carcass they find Aslan alive, who says..."Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still..."

[ginny]

I'm glad to see people still reading books! For some reason since  this continuing pandemic (which seems to be starting again here),  I've "Read for Pleasure"  nothing but the news from various online outlets, the BBC and the Guardian daily, (Dana got me hooked on the Guardian),  and classical stuff (which is the most rewarding, as always),  but nothing in book form otherwise "holds my interest," as people like to say.

Is it the way they are written? Is it ME?

Probably the latter.

My DIL is giving me lots of books which look appealing, I've read 2 mysteries, one biography, (that WAS interesting, the Jeremy Thorpe scandal), but I only read it because of Hugh Grant's amazing performance in the movie. (Not for everybody's taste)....

I've started  The Club which seems good so far but is probably full of all kinds of stuff I don't want to read, and my DIL gave me The Last Mona Lisa, fiction, which also looks good.

However I AM binge watching a Danish serial (see Movies) which I am really enjoying, at least the first several years (there are 9 years and they may be getting a little more flimsy here in the 7th but on the other hand some of those Agatha Raisin things are VERY formulaic after a while).... It could be old age. I don't know what it is.

Quite frankly I spend half my time trying to figure out what is meant in most of the headlines I see daily. The acronyms are maddening. . For instance the "Wagatha Christie"  trials.  I did not know what a WAG was!! Am I the only one? I finally looked it up:

  WAG
(abbv: wives and girlfriends)

A selection of overpublicised, vacuous anorexics found lurking at football matches, easily distinguised by their orange skin tone and high body plastic index, ostensibly present for the purpose of pleasuring the England football team, but in reality with the intention of being photographed obtaining fashion advice from chief WAG Mrs. Beckham in the hope that this will lead to a future appearance on "celebrity love island".

Well there you have it.

Between that and the Johnny Depp trial it seems there is no "new normal," just a dysfunctional mess everywhere. I can't get over the entourage those "movie stars" have? The staffs! The lifestyle.  Unbelievable. Sort of  undesirable, perhaps? Why would anybody need 5 penthouses in the same building? Why would anybody need or even consider supporting their wife's  friends, their friends, their  hangers on, an army of people not even related in any way, living off one,  spending one's money furiously,  in one of one's 5  penthouses?  No wonder these movie "stars" go broke.

Ah well, we can see I have not taken this first week off in a constructive manner!!!!

Iste mundus furibundus as they used to say in the 13th century.

[Frybabe]

Ha! from Camina Burana. Ista mundus furibundus (This earth is full of troubles)

Here it is from the original manuscript:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1lE3g6KGOg

Somebody's modern version. Love the photo slideshow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddy4u9M0lQw

This reminds me that Vangelis passed away three days ago. The above reminded me of one of his compositions I was just listening to this morning.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55SVonv-sio

[BarbStAubrey]

Goodness what in the world is Johnny Depp on trail for - I didn't think they even arrested Hollywood drug addicts - Can't remember the name of the movie but the one I liked best is where he plays the part of a pirate sea captain and all sorts of ocean creatures are part creature and part man - forgot the story but that is the picture that comes to mind when his name is mentioned. 

Yep, "This earth is full of troubles" reminds me of professor Hill and his side kick in Music Man - Ya got trouble - in River city you got trouble - we've surely got trouble... our children's children gonna have trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble...

Each day there is another happening I could not even imagine - my shock is that I ordered my usual groceries that would normally cost with Tip for delivery about $65 and it cost me $100.03 - I think my jaw is in a permanent dropped position.

Started a Medieval warrior kind of story The Lawless Land - so far the escape of a woman helped by this knight figure being chased by a small band with the same symbols on their shields as is on the carriage the women drove to escape leads to the question who is the bad guy or gal - fits today - can't tell who to support between all sorts of lies and my using yesterday's value system - seems the world shifted and I have not caught up with the current value system - well in my own home it really does not matter - I'm going to have to adjust my life to what is available - thank God I am not bringing up children - sheesh...

Still fascinated with the French Revolution - I've downloaded a couple of books that explain France before and several of the characters I've known about superficially but they had far more input than I was aware of - yes, Talleyrand, Robespierre and Thomas Paine but in addition the main character evidently is Georges Jacques Danton a lawyer and then this Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois an actor and essayist that was named in Now We Shall be Entirely Free - which I so enjoyed I want to read another of Andrew Miller's books - thinking of Pure - which does take place about the time of the French Revolution - but before I get knee deep into eighteen century France I'm taking a break with The Lawless Land.