This past weekend saw Amanda and I both off for the weekend for the first time in a long while so we decided to have a day in sheffield. We started the day with a trip around the large indoor shopping centre Meadow hall , it has two small waterstones bookshops but I was waiting for later in the day and the chance to go too the large main city centre branch of waterstones but one treat I did have in Meadowhall was a Donut .This was a Biscoff donut anyone that knows me is I love my Bicoff lotus biscuits the perfect coffee biscuit I say and this donut went great with my espresso.
I have a rule of three in bookshops never buy more than three books in one shop these days so my three choices weren’t so easy but in the end I settle for an old favourite writer and two new names ,
I brought war and war earlier in the year but had wanted to read The melancholy of resistance more , so brought it to complete my Laszlo Krasznahorkai collection. THe book rather like Satantango follows a small town as it reacts to an incomer , this time it ia s mystery show with the worlds largest Whale and just that the locals are wary of these new circus folk. I’m in a circus mode as we are busy watching the fourth series of american horror story the freak show series. The book has also been made into a film by Bela Tarr who also did the film for Satantango.
I had this on my list of books to buy since its Translate Jamie first mentioned this book Schlump is the story of a 17-year-old on the German front at world war two a story that is brutal and funny at the same time the writer wasn’t truly known to 2013 many years after Grimm had died he later was in the nazi party even thou this book was burned he bricked up his original manuscript in his house, he later was called in 1950 to talk about his war-time record and two days later he committed suicide .I hope have this read for end of German lit month .
The confessions of an Italian is the story of Carlo altoviti an old man looking back at his life in Italy this happens to be in the period called the Risorgimento, which saw the small states that had made Italy at the time join together to make it a bigger country. An epic novel Italo Calvino called it the one 19th century Italian novel which has that charm and fascination so abundant in foreign literature . What better recommendation could you have .
What books have you brought recently ?
I like the sound of Confessions! Recommended by Calvino, no less! I hope you read and review it soon so that I can justify buying it. I had another attack of spendyitis in Benn’s Bookshop last week on top of two attacks at Readings Bookstore so until I can move these 13 books off my desk into a (currently non-existent) space on the bookshelves I am not going to buy any more.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions (as my wise old mother used to say)
It caught my eye when penguin brought it out lisa I’m sucker for a long novel as well
It certainly is long enough!
Just to justify another shopping spree for you Krasznahorkai, has a new translated book out soon “Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens: Reportage” . My recent purchases have been two books about whisky, Yukio Mishima’s Acts of Worship, David Foster Wallace’s Pale King & Will Self ‘s How the dead live.
I just th eject book by wallace unread I want try to as film coming out about him soon
Nice haul, Stu! Schlump sounds excellent, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it later this month. No new purchases for me at the moment as I’m still trying to read from my shelves (well, as far as possible anyway).
Doesn’t it just Jamie said it was a gem and he translated it
Nice books Stu! And like Lisa says, if Calvino recommends the Nievo I’ll have to look out for it!
Exactly can’t go wrong when he said is best of its time
I love Bicoff lotus biscuits. I can only image how good that donut is! I Hope you enjoy your new books!
Thanks Jackie it was very tasty