...but intended to.
1) Classical Whodunnits; murder and mystery from Ancient Greece and Rome (1996). Ed. by Mike Ashley. A collection of 22 stories. "Favourite historical detectives such as Gordiannus the Finder, Decius Metellus, and [others] ... rub shoulders with eminent temporary sleuths such as Socrates and that honorable man Brutus ... terrible and ingenious crimes." [back cover blurb]
My excuse for not reading this (yet)? Just picked it up at a yard sale 5 days ago AND there are about 17 other books on my table which I'm in the middle of [in the middle of which I am?]. Yum-yum, crime.
2) Sister Bernadette's barking dog; the quirky history and lost art of diagramming sentences (2006). By Kitty Burns Florey. 154 pages. I'm on page 47. Don't you dare read this book unless you love language and want to laugh and feel good.
3) The People of the Khyber; the Pathans of Pakistan (1963). By James W. Spain. 190 pages with photographs. I'm on page 55 and have been stuck there for 2 months. Why? Though it's easy reading, a travelog or memoir by an American diplomat turned academic, and I'm very interested in the subject ( a good friend of mine is a Pushtun studying in Canada), this book is 45 years old. Am not sure there is a more recent treatment in English. The Pushtun people (Pathan is a Britishism) of the North West Frontier Province are not terrorists, though every man carries a gun and always has. We must not demonize millions of people who need our help and compassion, not our bombs. We must try to understand Pukhtunwali, their Code, that includes melmastia, hospitality, as well as badal, revenge. Here's a quote from Mr. Spain, "history hangs heavy on the Khyber and has left its mark upon its sombre stone. Ground into dust of the Pass is Persian gold, Greek iron, Tartar leather, Moghul gems, and Afghan silver and British steel. All have watered it with their blood."
Well, those are the books I didn't finish this week. If you really want to read something refreshing (the sea, birds, the supernatural, storms) there's always Coleridge's wonderful poem
http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Col2Mar.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all
Here's the poem without illustrations http://www.bartleby.com/101/549.html
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17 comments:
Fine then...here I've comfortably ensconced myself amidst flowers & whatnot....in a state of all most not thinking about things...now you have me curious again.
Tomorrow, I'm going to Border's so I can add to the conversation.
:)
It's nice to think I (or my ideas) are irresistable, but they're not. All you have to do is not read my posts on Fridays. There, peace of mind.
Curiosity being a good thing (except of course for the cat) I think I'll stick around. I think I'll achieve more peace of mind thinking about what you offer on your blog versus what I try so hard not to think about in my own life.
I just wish I had crossed paths with you earlier.
I read a book last week, Adirondak Tragedy (American Tragedy is another book) which was made into a movie, A place in the sun. It's about Chester Gillette murdered his pregnant girlfriend by drowning her in a lake, Grace (Billy) Brown in 1906, he was put to death in 1908 by Electric Chair. Very interesting to me because it happened up near our house in NY.
Foul Ball!!! No Fair!! I can't run to amazon.com or the local lib to find your books (1, 2 and 3) of the week!!!
But the idea of mystery stories coming down to us from ancient times is fascinating - it never occured to me that mystery stories were anything but a more modern genre.
And sentence diagramming - ah, the remembered drills from high school English classes!
What softies we are - can you imagine us trying to deal with life in a Khyber tribe - thank goodness there isn't a real transporter in this keyboard that could accidentally be activated!!
I'm trying to read your 4th suggestion - I think I can, I think I can, I know I can - if I can ony change my eyeball patterns from fast-scan to musical-infusion mode. Somehow, I never read this poem before - either in class or on my own - time for "on my own" .....
Cheryl, I wish I'd met you earlier in my life, too. You are a kindred soul (at least I think you are. We should meet in person and find out.).
Kristen: Was he related to the Gillette razor blade family? (I'm not going to make a joke about that; drowning is serious stuff.)
Biddie: the mysteries were written by moderns especially for this collection, but the events they refer to were real. Can't believe you never encountered The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in school! It was meant to be read out loud. Your cats would enjoy it, I'm sure.
nope, Gillette skirt factory in NY
Surely - I thought - that we must have covered at least a part of it in some English class but I sure can't remember doing so - even then I had no patience with the older forms of the English language.
Unfortunately, none of my cats are of an academic or literary bent - they fall more generally in the street tough category .... hopefully I don't seem to be a reflection of them ....
Priscilla, that is a compliment that I deeply value :)
Hi there,
I truly did not take offense to the saddlebag comment; I just sometimes find myself funnier than others do. At my VERY humorous husband's family functions, I encounter quite a few blank stares because nobody understands the "joke".
I also want compliment you on your blog. I am in the middle of a couple of Bible studies and reading through the Bible, so haven't had the opportunity to ready any of the Friday book club suggestions, but plan to in the near future.
I'm reminded of my grandmother, a librarian, who would send me a monthly book when I was young and they were always something that stretched my growing mind just a bit more.
Thanks, Maureen (I knew it was a joke) and everybody for bearing with my Friday posts.I don't mean for every book I mention to be read. It's more of a weekly reminder to myself to concentrate on one thing at a time. I have the bad habit of starting a book and then putting it down and then grabbing another and another and another... No self discipline when it comes to reading. I'm trying to reform and read one thing at a time. How interesting that your grandmother was a librarian...I'll bet SHE only read one thing at a time!
She would read a book a day and after she passed away in going through her things found most of the books had gramatical corrections in the margins. She was the person in my life that really introduced me to ecology and environmental concerns. A neat lady that I wish had lived a much longer and happier life.
What an interesting person your grandmother was! You were truly fortunate to have her in your life.
It is so curious to me about the time great readers can spend reading. I recognize that it is for the love of reading and the ideas so it is a valuable way of spending their time.
For a while I was in the book club at the local library. While the books choosen were new to me and interesting, I always found it hard for me to justify the enforced idleness required to read several hours a day. I'm not against reading, it just hard for me to sit still long enough to read. I've wanted to take advantage of Priscilla's notes about books - if for no other reason but to keep my poor little synapses snapping ..... so I for one, really appreciate your Friday book/author posts!
There is no idleness in a good read...
Just had to say...
It's not hard to spend many quiet self-enforced idle hours in front of a TV, Biddie, so why should reading idleness be hard?
Is this something that you know first-hand from your own personal experiences?
You bet!
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