Wednesday is 2020
Jan. 1st, 2020 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
evelyn_bIt's the first of the year! If I'd planned ahead, I could have made this Reading Wednesday do double duty as a review of 2019, but I didn't, so all that will have to wait.
What I've Finished Reading
Ancient Evenings is too batshit not to get its own entry, but I am happy to say that I finished it, and consequently all 99 Novels, by the end of 2019. To celebrate, I read You've Had Your Time, the second memoir by Anthony Burgess - who is a little grumpier and about twenty years older than I thought he was. He's also a composer! When I opened up the book and saw that detail in his "about the author," I immediately thought, "This explains so much!" It probably doesn't explain all that much, but it harmonizes nicely with what he's willing to put up with in books. He's also more Catholic that I thought, though I shouldn't be surprised given how much page space he gives to his fellow Catholic misanthropes. All his descriptions of his own books make them sound like parodies of books by an author who doesn't completely get "litfic." While visiting my parents I also read The Novel Now, a much earlier book about novels Anthony Burgess likes.
What I'm Reading Now
The title of Great True Spy Stories isn't lying about it being full of great spy stories. This is actually an anthology, edited by Alan Dulles, a RL spy guy from the CIA who occasionally appears as a character. The stories are largely mid-20th century magazine prose, with predictable levels of partisanship and stuffiness, but you couldn't ask for better plots. My favorite is still the very first story in the collection, about a French guy who stole a map from the Nazis while putting up wallpaper in their new offices. He was luckier than he had any right to be, because the first thing he did after he slipped a map behind the mirror frame to come back for later was roll up to his neighborhood bar and tell ALL HIS FRIENDS about his fabulous exploit.
Creative 35mm Photography: Traveling With Your Camera is another photography advice book, this one from 1965. Most of the advice is not bad, but the author is convinced that all the residents of every country are going to be perfectly delighted to have their picture taken and you shouldn't ask permission because it only makes people self-conscious. I can't agree!
What I Plan to Read Next
I got some books for Christmas which I'll probably try to read before the end of the year. I got slightly more than expected because in addition to the books I got as presents, my parents had read a couple of books and wanted to talk about them with me, so added them to my luggage. This means the bookshelf I had almost cleared off is back to its former abundance. But I have confidence that it will be clear again soon.
What I've Finished Reading
Ancient Evenings is too batshit not to get its own entry, but I am happy to say that I finished it, and consequently all 99 Novels, by the end of 2019. To celebrate, I read You've Had Your Time, the second memoir by Anthony Burgess - who is a little grumpier and about twenty years older than I thought he was. He's also a composer! When I opened up the book and saw that detail in his "about the author," I immediately thought, "This explains so much!" It probably doesn't explain all that much, but it harmonizes nicely with what he's willing to put up with in books. He's also more Catholic that I thought, though I shouldn't be surprised given how much page space he gives to his fellow Catholic misanthropes. All his descriptions of his own books make them sound like parodies of books by an author who doesn't completely get "litfic." While visiting my parents I also read The Novel Now, a much earlier book about novels Anthony Burgess likes.
What I'm Reading Now
The title of Great True Spy Stories isn't lying about it being full of great spy stories. This is actually an anthology, edited by Alan Dulles, a RL spy guy from the CIA who occasionally appears as a character. The stories are largely mid-20th century magazine prose, with predictable levels of partisanship and stuffiness, but you couldn't ask for better plots. My favorite is still the very first story in the collection, about a French guy who stole a map from the Nazis while putting up wallpaper in their new offices. He was luckier than he had any right to be, because the first thing he did after he slipped a map behind the mirror frame to come back for later was roll up to his neighborhood bar and tell ALL HIS FRIENDS about his fabulous exploit.
Creative 35mm Photography: Traveling With Your Camera is another photography advice book, this one from 1965. Most of the advice is not bad, but the author is convinced that all the residents of every country are going to be perfectly delighted to have their picture taken and you shouldn't ask permission because it only makes people self-conscious. I can't agree!
What I Plan to Read Next
I got some books for Christmas which I'll probably try to read before the end of the year. I got slightly more than expected because in addition to the books I got as presents, my parents had read a couple of books and wanted to talk about them with me, so added them to my luggage. This means the bookshelf I had almost cleared off is back to its former abundance. But I have confidence that it will be clear again soon.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-01 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-01 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-01 11:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-02 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-02 02:34 am (UTC)(I was recently reminded of your valiant struggles with Gravity's Rainbow when I saw Knives Out over the holidays with my family-- Daniel Craig quotes the novel, leading to the exchange "[I've heard of it, but] I've never read it" / "Nobody's read it!")
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Date: 2020-01-02 11:42 pm (UTC)I've been told that I NEED to see Knives Out, and it's possible that someday I will.
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Date: 2020-01-02 09:52 am (UTC)Oh, congratulations! \o/ And thank you very much for taking us along on this ride with you. It's been very informative and entertaining.
Does this mean that murder might come back from holiday from time to time even?
no subject
Date: 2020-01-02 11:46 pm (UTC)I've enjoyed sharing this not-quite-pointless journey with you!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-03 04:49 pm (UTC)Love audacious stories of people getting away with things when they shouldn't:)
Methinks the photography author hasn't traveled much;p
no subject
Date: 2020-01-09 10:18 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, the photography author has traveled a great deal, taking pictures of people without asking them everywhere he goes.
(I can't say they aren't some of them nice-looking pictures, too. but dude, you should ask. :|)