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Post by jimpres on Nov 12, 2006 14:13:31 GMT -7
Scatts,
you missed Vince Flynn ala Tom Clancy but better.
Jim
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Post by bescheid on Nov 12, 2006 15:26:24 GMT -7
Anyway. You can only read so much Polish oriented stuff so my suggestion is that it is time to stop! Go read some Graeme Green instead - anything at all, it's all great. If you like detectives I'd suggest the Aurelio Zen series by Michael Dibdin. Or perhaps Inspector Rebus stuff - Ian Rankin. If you want something that seems slow but seeps into you and you can't get it out, try E M Forster - 'room with a view' or 'passage to India' are a good start. For light relief I love Bill Bryson or Spike Milligan. Slightly deeper comedy you can't do much better than Garrison Keillor - try WLT A Radio Romance. A hell of a good read recently was "The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon. For science fiction try Iain M Banks - start with "Consider Phlebas". For great but weird try him under his other name Iain Banks - try "The Wasp Factory". I try reading history but get bored. I try reading biogs but get just as bored. I don't read romance. I'm past my Sven Hassel, Forsyth, Ludlum, Le Carre, PD James, Agatha C....etc days. Iwas doing okay with Terry Pratchet's disc world, but then I got bored. Kingsley Amis is very good. Updike is overrated (IMO). What did I miss? And here I thought I was the only person to read: 1. Passage to India and 2. Room with a view. I really did enjoy {Passage to India} and the investigation into the ladies allegations and ruination of the Indian doctors reputation. I have always enjoyed books written of India whilst it was a British colony. Seems to bring back the time of gentleman subtle glamour, the heat, tea, trying to stay proper whilst sweating. And all of that. As of the past few years, casual reading has escaped. Just seemed a waste of time as work oriented reading was the time taker. Charles |
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Nov 12, 2006 18:43:09 GMT -7
Scatts,
Well, I guess it's true that you can only read so much Polish "stuff", but I'm definitely NOT at that point yet! I've read lots of Graham Green and some Forster, but I really am just immensely enjoying my exploration of things Polish at this time of my life. Afterall, Scatts, you live in Poland, so it's just everyday, business-as-usual for you. Not so for me!!
Jeanne
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scatts
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Post by scatts on Nov 13, 2006 1:43:10 GMT -7
Jeanne, my comments were very much tongue-in-cheek, which is not always easy to detect in places like this. You read what you like, of course. I should read some of the "Polish stuff" myself, I've read more or less nothing in that line. Mostly I'm concerned that it's not going to be very well written and I have a real problem with books where I don't 'respect' the writers ability to write. Most recent example was The Da Vinci Code.
bescheid, I know what you mean. Finding the time to read is very difficult.
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Nov 13, 2006 4:30:33 GMT -7
Scatts,
I totally understand what you're saying! I hope you didn't think I was offended by your comments. I guess I didn't express myself very clearly. I agree with you and Bescheid that finding time to read is very difficult, and since I'm so eager to devour everything I can about Poland, it really doesn't bother me if something is somewhat badly written as long as I get some insight into Polish life or history! I only get to read about 20 minutes each evening, just before I conk out for the night!
Jeanne
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Post by leslie on Nov 14, 2006 10:02:44 GMT -7
My son has just bought me the video of 'And the Violin Stopped Playing'. I have watched it so far today as far as when the main group of Gypsies reach the river border with Hungary and the majority of the group have reached the other side. But with what has happened to others of the group and some of the scenes of murder and slaughter by the Nazis prior to this point, my emotions have got the better of me and I have had to stop watching for a while. As Jeanne says, much has been made of the Holocaust with the destruction of the Jews, but the Gypsies only get sparse mention. Yes there were fewer of them but their unnecessary slaughter happened as much as with the Juden. I think I should have read the book first!!
Leslie
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nancy
European
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Post by nancy on Nov 14, 2006 16:31:26 GMT -7
Scatts, If you read only ONE novel that is written in English and has a post-WW2 setting in Poland, let it be In the Memory of the Forest by Charles T. Powers (out of print but you will find it used) (It is not about Katyn) I have read all the authors you listed, and more! Several months ago we had a thread on good reading - here is the link Best Books - click here |
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Nov 14, 2006 18:56:20 GMT -7
Leslie,
I was so surprised to hear that there is a video of 'And the Violins Stopped Playing'. I thought it was a book that not too many people had paid attention to. I guess maybe it is better known in the UK. Scatts said there were plenty of copies available on amazon.co.uk, but according to Nancy there are only 3 on amazon here. I really recommend that you read the book! I think in the book you would get more details on the daily life and customs of the Gypsies than you would in the movie. You know the books are usually better than the movies!
Please post again after you watch the rest!
Jeanne
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Post by leslie on Nov 17, 2006 8:35:05 GMT -7
Hi Jeanne
I have completed watching the video now and found the latter part not as emotive as the earlier one as I said (Perhaps because it concentrated on the problems of the Gypsies, about which I had heard little previous to this). Most of the later part took place in Auschwitz, so I suppose I am immured to that having heard/read/seen so much of that. The video made little of what you described about the woman who had looked after the little girl hiding the two men - the video virtually completed when the two escaped from the camp and went to the woman's cottage, where she took them in to hide them. I found the video, colour images of the Gypsies way of life/culture/clothing and so on was excellent in presentation, so perhaps the video scores over the book in that, but I am sure the video omitted much that was included in the book - this is the norm when a book is made into a film. But I must get a copy of the book!
Good reading
Leslie
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Post by kaima on Nov 17, 2006 17:29:18 GMT -7
Scatts said: What did I miss? Uh Oh, when do you expect to become bored with US???!!! whoops, I didn't realize I was looking at the bottom of page one. I thought I was at the end of the string when I answered. Someone got me to check out "Shop on Main Street" from the library, and I discovered whe have quite a video section in Anchorage, including a bunch of Polish videos. Shop on Main Street was in Slovak with English subtitles, with some Yiddish & German mixed in the language, so it was sometimes hard to chose which language was being spoken. Mynext film is one out of Ukraine, set in the Carpathians, so close to Poland and Slovakia. I will be watching these for scenery and background as well as the story, hoping to gather some hints of life much as one might get hints of true American life from a Hollywood film. This next one is "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (Wild Horses of Fire). Yes, i expect to get into the Polish films as well. I even recognized a name or two! Kai |
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Nov 17, 2006 18:53:09 GMT -7
Leslie,
The book did go into quite a bit of detail about Gypsy life/culture. I think that's what I found so fascinating about it. I can't remember how descriptive it was about clothing, but nothing is better than seeing that in full color. Hope you find a copy of the book soon.
Jeanne
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Post by gardenmoma on Nov 17, 2006 19:29:55 GMT -7
Kai,
Are you referring here to "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors"? or another film entirely?
GM
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scatts
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Post by scatts on Nov 19, 2006 5:14:51 GMT -7
Nancy, thanks for that tip. Amazon have a few used copies but I'm not buying anything except from amazon themselves. I'll keep my eyes open in the second-hand book stores.
I looked at the other topic. A lot of very well read people here, obviously!
Did the year in Ireland make Ulysses any better, or worse?
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nancy
European
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Post by nancy on Nov 20, 2006 14:12:56 GMT -7
Did the year in Ireland make Ulysses any better, or worse? Better! I love that book! Bloomsday in Ireland, what could be better?  |
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