Jump to content

All Activity

This stream auto-updates

  1. Past hour
  2. KEV67

    Rob Roy

    Another similarity between Rob Roy and Waverley is that the narrator is a young Englishman. First he goes north to Northumbria. If it's like Waverley he crosses the border to where the wild men live.
  3. Today
  4. Zorba The Greek (1946) Nikos Kazantzakis The story of two men who go to Crete and mine Lignite and spend their days on the beach. The narrator (the boss) is a bookworm and thinker but his new friend, Zorba, is inclined to be more passionate and wild. They spend their evenings drinking, singing, talking of life. And that's essentially the plot (save for some rather bizarre events towards the end of the book that slightly lost me). Kazantzakis does a great job of creating the scene, you can hear the waves, feel the sun, smell the wine, and hear the laughter. Zorba is a man who believes very much in living now. And he encourages the boss to embrace this worldview before it's too late. Overall, I enjoyed the book but was never blown away by it. Kazantzakis is a wonderful writer and has moments of exceptional prose but the book is very dialogue driven so the language is predominantly straight-forward discussions between the men. But when Kazantzakis allows the boss to think about things alone, to articulate his thoughts, the writing becomes sublime: After a while, you become lost in the Mediterranean shimmer of light and the drinking of wine. You settle in and enjoy their company, listen to these two men discuss philosophy and existence while Zorba endeavours to teach the boss that life has no meaning and can only be experienced in the here and now. As such, I kept hearing that song: 'The Whole of the Moon' by the Waterboys in my head. It seemed to sum up their relationship: The boss wants to learn. Zorba wants to live. 'I spoke about wings, you just flew.' 7/10
  5. he added incoherently, then pulling himself together, 'Young man, if you want to continue employment in this establishment, it would pay to keep a civil tongue in your head.' With that he turned heel and marched out, only stopping to ...
  6. Yesterday
  7. KEV67

    Rob Roy

    I have started reading this. I have read one other book by Scott, Waverley, which I thought was a great book. I quite like Walter Scott's style. It is rather dense, but it is almost cinematographic. In the first couple of chapters the protagonist is holding an argument with his stern father. The protagonist does not want to be a merchant like his father. It is sort of like accountancy. The protagonist wants to be a poet. At this point there is no indication where the story is going. We just know the young fellow has a romantic and independent streak. I especially liked the bit where the lad's father found a poem his son has wrote and critiques it. It seemed like quite a reasonable poem to me.
  8. Last week
  9. Down in the Valley - Slim Whitman (this song just jumped into my mind - I used to play it on my fiddle.)
  10. I'm currently reading The Child of God by Cormac McCarthy and he is indeed a superb writer. Still not sure about whether or not he surpasses Faulkner, imho, but it doesn't really matter. And I didn't realise that he passed away in June 2023. I still have the rest of his books to look forward to.
  11. inform you..you, you callused handed, red nosed, odd little old soak...' 'Oh ha ha ha..is that what you think..?..well I hyahby close.....'
  12. I had absolutely no idea what he was warbling on about, silly old codger, I'm sure he's losing his marbles. 'Rosie rang last night and she's coming home tomorrow. She's missing me dreadfully, and the cats, of course, but I'm afraid she didn't mention you, Major.' 'Wouldn't, would she ... doesn't need to, what. Close telepathic bond, pater filiam foedere, and all that. Came here to discuss finances, old chap. When to expect some dividends from this little venture?' 'All in good time, Major. We're just about to ...
  13. 'Rosie is in Japan,in some place or other near Kyoto...what has your hooded presence here , to do with her absence? Why are you sneaking..' ' Now Ronnie ..don't ' 'Ronnie..? Have you been boozing, Mr Flowers? First you..' 'My name is not Ronnie, old bean,now...is her absence a case of libidinum sapphire impetigo,as it were..? ..a kind of preponderance for the fairer gender as one calls it these days..? If so,commiserations old chap but I always suspected, even as a young girl in Chesham, that she preferred female, er,company..now..the finances of this cattery..are you..?...'
  14. All was quiet after that, so I assumed he'd gone away. But then, in burst the hooded man. He was short and rotund and I was confident I could easily tackle him to the ground if necessary. After all, I was at the peak of physical fitness with the hectic schedule I maintained. He threw back the hood, swept aside his cape and I nearly fell over in surprise. It was the Major! 'Whatever are you doing here?! I thought you were in Japan! And where's Rosie??'
  15. Same here, nice and sunny but a cold wind.
  16. I attended a Unitarian meeting online a fortnight ago. They seemed pleased with Adrian's birth. The average age of the Unitarians is about 65 by my reckoning. It might be higher than that. The pastor (I am not sure that is position) was intrigued to see a room full of Kazakh surrogate women.
  17. I have not been to any Orthodox Church services, but I have poked my head in. They don't have stain glass, but they have a lot of religious paintings. They tend to use metal in their religious art. I am not sure whether it is all silver and gold, but it looks like it. They don't have pews neither. Everybody stands. This is one of their cathedrals. I can see it five miles away.
  1. Load more activity
×
×
  • Create New...