Read (14)
BOTM: D. Erasmus, Praise of Folly
R. Bultmann, Primitive Christianity
E.H. Carr, What is History
D. Defoe, Journal of the plague year
M. Druon, La Reine étranglée
J.C.L. Gibson, Language and Imagery in the Old Testament
H. James, The Golden Bowl
J. Jobling and I. Markham, (eds.) Theological Liberalism
E.T. Long, Existence, Being and God
H. Netland, Dissonant voices
Tertullian, Apologia
B. Unsworth, Morality Play
M. Warner, Between heaven and Charing Cross
J. Ziesler, Pauline Cristianity
Remaining - 68
I hesitate to call some of these 'read' to be honest. I picked up a set of mediocre theology a few years back and have just polished them off. Most were rubbish. It's inspired a savage and brutal cull of other remaining books as well. I've taken out about forty books in June (though I've audited my collection and added a handful as well). As a result, the finishing line gets ever closer, and I really can see it now: six months, slightly over ten books a month to get through - all be over by Christmas.
That said, I don't think I can cope with another month starting like this one. Getting through James nearly killed me, and while good (amongst the best in fact), I wouldn't try it again for a long time. Elsewhere though, this drive for completion has highlighted the gems I have sitting on my shelves. I was taught about Praise of Folly in 1995, when I started doing the Reformation for A Level, and bought this copy in 2002. Yet I failed to read it. How irritating, because it's amazing: a funny, scathing and engaging critique of the world and the church, which echoes down the ages. I can hear the account of the importance of frivolity resurface in Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, and the attack on the monks, though as old as the monastic vocation, could have been written today. I only wish my Latin were good enough to read it in the original, so I could get all the puns (my copy has extensive notes).
It's also a sensible size, clocking in at c.150 pages (incuding footnotes); people should take note: it does not take 500 pages to make an argument, or a novel - yes, Henry James, that's you we're talking about.
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Bibliography, May 2010
Acquired (1)
W. Scheller, Great Estates
Read (8)
BOTM: V. Seth, The Golden Gate
D. Acheson, Present at the Creation (partial)
I. Banks, The Crow Road
D. Cruickshanks, Adventures in Architecture
I. Gilmour, Whatever happened to the Tories
V.Nabokov, Pale Fire
C. Potok, In the Beginning
W. Scheller, Great Estates
Books remaning - 105
It's been a bit of a disappointing month on the book front, though I am delighted with my book on the great estates of the US. I really struggled to read much in the States, for which a variety of factors are to blame. I was ill, we drove a lot (1,280 miles) and M doesn't read, so we didn't have that period of time where we just sat down and read for an hour or two. Finally, I foolishly embarked on The Golden Bowl which like all Henry James, I can't really get into (300 pages in) and I am really struggling to finish. I will do so, but The Ambassadors has gone in the recycling box as of yesterday.
Anyway, the books themselves were pretty good. Seth's I've pulled out as the best, but all of the novels were ones I would recommend. However, even it if hadn't been good, I would have been tempted to give the plaudits to Seth for writing a novel about Silicon valley in verse. It's a masterful feat of literary pyrotechnics. That alone wouldn't have been enough, but it's also moving, pretty rather than beautiful, and - unexpectedly - funny. It was a delight to read and whizzed by (which is just as well given the above. I read it in the appropriate surroundings of San Francisco and the wine country where it is set). I heartily recommend it, even if you aren't by the Bay.
W. Scheller, Great Estates
Read (8)
BOTM: V. Seth, The Golden Gate
D. Acheson, Present at the Creation (partial)
I. Banks, The Crow Road
D. Cruickshanks, Adventures in Architecture
I. Gilmour, Whatever happened to the Tories
V.Nabokov, Pale Fire
C. Potok, In the Beginning
W. Scheller, Great Estates
Books remaning - 105
It's been a bit of a disappointing month on the book front, though I am delighted with my book on the great estates of the US. I really struggled to read much in the States, for which a variety of factors are to blame. I was ill, we drove a lot (1,280 miles) and M doesn't read, so we didn't have that period of time where we just sat down and read for an hour or two. Finally, I foolishly embarked on The Golden Bowl which like all Henry James, I can't really get into (300 pages in) and I am really struggling to finish. I will do so, but The Ambassadors has gone in the recycling box as of yesterday.
Anyway, the books themselves were pretty good. Seth's I've pulled out as the best, but all of the novels were ones I would recommend. However, even it if hadn't been good, I would have been tempted to give the plaudits to Seth for writing a novel about Silicon valley in verse. It's a masterful feat of literary pyrotechnics. That alone wouldn't have been enough, but it's also moving, pretty rather than beautiful, and - unexpectedly - funny. It was a delight to read and whizzed by (which is just as well given the above. I read it in the appropriate surroundings of San Francisco and the wine country where it is set). I heartily recommend it, even if you aren't by the Bay.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)