ethan Posted December 30, 2014 Author Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) Thanks Athena and willoyd, especially for the geography correction. Last post of this years blog. Happy New Year to all! The Flight From the Enchanter - Iris Murdoch Murdochs' novels defy description. I'll stumble and try. This is a comic melodrama, lively, surprising, about people who are confused, who lack the necessary information to make their choices. I've now read three Murdochs but I'm not yet sure what she is on about. They're so entertaining, though, it doesn't seem to matter. Caesar: A Biography - Christian Meier Meier goes to great lengths to re-create the structure of Roman society during Caesar's formative years. Some of this gets a bit tedious especially as the governing institutions of the Republic are difficult to understand despite Meier's efforts. And the severity and brutality of the society needs to be absorbed. But the meticulous buildup pays off as soon as Caesar crosses the Rubicon, a superb story of his triumph and fall on the Ides of March. There's also a tantilizing glimpse of his heir, Octavius, who eventually becomes the Emperor Augustus, the subject of a novel by John Williams (Stoner) which I'll be reading soon. The Blue Flower - Penelope Fitzgerald Fitzgerald is excellent at evoking place, here German society and culture of the late 1700s. Although this is a (true) story of the birth of the Romantic movement, I felt at times I was reading an official government report, so dour and passionless is her approach. It is an odd love story, and I am prepared for the prospect of it lingering in my imagination. Doctors of Philosophy: A Play - Muriel Spark Spark's only play that reached production (she had nothing to do with any of the various adaptations of her novels). It had a mildly successful run in London but did not travel on to Broadway and I can find no evidence that it was ever staged in the US. Ingmar Bergman was impressed enough to mount a production in Sweden. It's a traditional drawing room comedy that runs amok in clever, very funny Sparkian ways. There is an element of meta-fiction (meta-theater actually) familiar from her novels, a satire of academic pretension, and of people who just can't comprehend the looniness of their world. and a play.... Much Ado About Nothing This production set the story in the 1940s, WWII, and added a Christmas theme appropriate to the season which worked as well as any such updating I've seen. I was surprised that Beatrice and Benedick were being performed by actors in their 50s, the other productions I've seen the pair were played by actors in their 30s. This worked too adding a last chance aspect to their rocky romance. Shakespearean magic from beginning to end. Edited December 31, 2014 by ethan Quote
pontalba Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) Ethan, your reviews always manage to hit the right note and come right to the point. I thoroughly enjoy them. I've gotten many good ideas from your thread, so thank you! And, well done on your totals. I don't know how you've managed to read so many fascinating books in a year. Happy Reading Year for 2015! Edited December 31, 2014 by pontalba Quote
Athena Posted December 31, 2014 Posted December 31, 2014 Happy Reading Year for 2015! I hope 2015 will be a good reading year for you! Quote
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