Welcome to this week's blog. Here's a roundup of your comments and photos from last week.
MsCarey is reading a "hot weather read", The Persian Boy by Mary Renault, by day, and spy stories by night:
The Persian Boy is the second of Renault’s Alexander the Great trilogy and it is a complete joy. It is a pleasure to be in the hands of a writer who is so sure of what she is doing. Espionage-wise I have just finished Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon, a writer who is new to me and I don’t really know what I think. Great setting, some interesting history although I could have done with more, style both staccato and cryptic and annoying at times.
An interesting conversation about Renault ensued.
Chris Icarus said:
Narcissus and Goldmund (by Herman Hesse). Elegantly beautiful and painfully gentle. As much an adventure story as an homage to aesthetic sensibility. A delicacy in the telling and profundity in the characterisation. And what's not to love in the intellectual, spiritual and sexual awakening of an innocent. Obviously I've read it several times before as no doubt you have but this return visit is particularly enjoyable as I reacquaint myself with old friends. And even a few pages a day fills the soul with light. Exquisite.
Niraj Acharya is reading Camus:
crisby rediscovered Eliot:
Rereading Middlemarch about 30 years after I first tackled it. This time round I'm struck by how tiresome Dorothea Brooke is (an irritating hero is always a brave thing for an author to try), more sympathetic towards poor old Casaubon, and surprised by how often the author's asides and sharp observations make me chuckle. Never really "got" Eliot before – but it's never too late to reappraise!
Over on Twitter, Duke Silver was enjoying John Williams:
@GuardianBooks Stoner was excellent. This is shaping up to be even better. pic.twitter.com/nqpIDz6Q7m
— Duke Silver (@dribblingfram) July 21, 2014
... and Sarah Hirons was relishing George Saunders:
@guardian @GuardianBooks Tenth of December by George Saunders. Dark, disturbing, and making me laugh out loud on the train.
— Sarah Hirons (@sarahhirons1) July 21, 2014
aliquidcow is "on a mission to read all the unread books I've got hanging around before buying any new ones", something that must take an impressive amount of willpower.
At the weekend I finished of a volume of David Mamet plays, the last of which was Speed the Plow. Interesting, and I'm wondering about checking out the production with Lindsay Lohan later this year, but I do see something of a formula to Mamet's plays now.
antonantonich shared:
We've seen interesting discussions about travel writing and Napoleon books – with one person admitting to owning over 100 titles related to the French leader.
If you would like to share a photo of the book you are reading, or film your own book review, please do. Click the blue button on this page to share your video or image. I'll include some of your posts in next week's blog.
And, as always, if you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to see us covering beyond TLS, do let us know.
