What are you reading now?

[Peter]

Thomas Hardy's 'Return of the native'.

[Quijote]

Thomas Hardy's 'Return of the native'.

Seems we have yet another aspect in common - I have always greatly admired Hardy's novels. I do not say "great minds think alike", but maybe "birds of the same feather flock together", which is why we enjoy sparring with each other (as certain birds do tend to "peck each other" when in confined spaces).
For me, the two novels I particularly like are "Far From the Madding Crowd" and "Jude the Obscure". There was a great film made of "Far from the Madding Crowd" starring Alan Bates and Julie Christie, with excellent music by Richard Rodney Bennett (not sure of the spelling, here). If ever I need a quick example of what "pastoral" means in music RRB would be my choice (after LvB, of course).
At school I had to study Hardy for my A-level English exam, plus TS Elliot (yawn, can't remember the work, something to do with God) and the "Terrible Sonnets" of Gerald Manley Hopkins. I remember writing an excellent essay that tried to link GMH's "Terrible Sonnets" with LvB's late string quartets, but the teacher gave me a poor mark for my insights. The curse I laid on him still stands today...

[Peter]

Seems we have yet another aspect in common - I have always greatly admired Hardy's novels. I do not say "great minds think alike", but maybe "birds of the same feather flock together", which is why we enjoy sparring with each other (as certain birds do tend to "peck each other" when in confined spaces).
For me, the two novels I particularly like are "Far From the Madding Crowd" and "Jude the Obscure". There was a great film made of "Far from the Madding Crowd" starring Alan Bates and Julie Christie, with excellent music by Richard Rodney Bennett (not sure of the spelling, here). If ever I need a quick example of what "pastoral" means in music RRB would be my choice (after LvB, of course).
At school I had to study Hardy for my A-level English exam, plus TS Elliot (yawn, can't remember the work, something to do with God) and the "Terrible Sonnets" of Gerald Manley Hopkins. I remember writing an excellent essay that tried to link GMH's "Terrible Sonnets" with LvB's late string quartets, but the teacher gave me a poor mark for my insights. The curse I laid on him still stands today...

I knew behind that ultra-modernist cubist concrete facade lurked an old fashioned Romantic yearning to burst out!! Yes the Alan Bates/Julie Christie is one of my favourite films - (forget the ghastly modern remake - why do they bother?). You're not alone in having your 'excellent essay' rewarded by a complete lack of recognition of genius - I once had such scorn poured on my essay 'Brahms, the German master' in which I sought to prove he was not THE German master that it nearly resulted in pistols at dawn - looking back I realise I took things a bit too seriously in those days!!

[Quijote]

[...] I once had such scorn poured on my essay 'Brahms, the German master' in which I sought to prove he was not THE German master that it nearly resulted in pistols at dawn - looking back I realise I took things a bit too seriously in those days!!

Pistols at dawn? I never realised you were so old, Peter. Mid-to-late 19th century?

[Peter]

Pistols at dawn? I never realised you were so old, Peter. Mid-to-late 19th century?

Oh earlier Philip - I seconded Pushkin's duel, I thought you knew?!

[Quijote]

Oh earlier Philip - I seconded Pushkin's duel, I thought you knew?!

I had rather imagined you were challenged to "pistols at dawn" by Hanslick himself after you had been slightly heretical about Brahms.

[Quijote]

An interesting artricle here for those that place great store in "hardware" (Bechstein, Steinway, Yamaha, Stradivarius, etc.).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010...ri-violin-sale

[Bonn1827]

Tonight I'm starting to re-read Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina", following a discussion on a televised "Book Show". I haven't touched it since post-graduate studies but my son, aged 34, thinks this the most wonderful book ever written and has read it twice. I look forward to a long, possibly intermittent, journey with this one...

[Peter]

Tonight I'm starting to re-read Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina", following a discussion on a televised "Book Show". I haven't touched it since post-graduate studies but my son, aged 34, thinks this the most wonderful book ever written and has read it twice. I look forward to a long, possibly intermittent, journey with this one...

I'm also reading Tolstoy - 'A confession' in which he renounces his past works, especially Anna Karenina!! Actually I also very much enjoyed the novel, certainly brilliant, but I still prefer War and Peace.

[Bonn1827]

Actually, that's what one of the panelists said on the book show I was watching. She said she preferred "War and Peace" because she found Anna and Vronsky "unsympathetic" characters to the reader, but she "understood" their attraction to each other!! An unusual observation, I thought.

So, Tolstoy "recanted" on "Anna"? I'm not sure we should "allow" authors to do this. What about Sondheim and his feelings about "West Side Story"? He claimed he was embarrassed about the "purple prose" sung by the teens in the musical and wished he'd never written these. I guess he'd never read Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", then?!!!

When I taught Extension English I gave the students "Pygmalion", which Shaw had later commented about (regarding interpretation) and for which he provided an extensive "postlude", if you will. I remember saying to the kids: "whom should we believe; the tale or the teller"? I think this a valid point when literature is finally in the public domain. It has to "stand" or "fall" on its own merits, regardless of what the author/composer later claims.

[Michael]

Interestingly, that last sentence could apply (in a sense) to "War and Peace". As far as I can remember, the original ending was a bit vague, especially regarding Nicolai Rostov and Princess Maria. It was some years before Tolstoy decided to add the famous epilogue in which most of the loose ends are tied up.
Only a couple of years ago, an earlier draft of the novel was published in which Prince Andrei did not die!

[Hollywood]

I just started reading the book Oliver Cromwell by John Morrill (from the Very Interesting People Series). I just recently discovered that my 10 times great grandfather was Sir Oliver Cromwell the Lord and Protector's uncle (so this makes him my first cousin 11 times removed).

[Michael]

I just started reading the book Oliver Cromwell by John Morrill (from the Very Interesting People Series). I just recently discovered that my 10 times great grandfather was Sir Oliver Cromwell the Lord and Protector's uncle (so this makes him my first cousin 11 times removed).

Have you got a round head?

[Hollywood]

Have you got a round head?

LOL!

[Peter]

Have you got a round head?

You have a great sense of humour Michael and I had the best laugh of the day!! Having met Hollywood I can vouch that fortunately she has no resemblance to her famous (infamous!!) ancestor, warts 'n' all !!!!