I try to read one Agatha Christie novel a year and considering how many there are I’m not sure whether I will actually get through them all at that raI try to read one Agatha Christie novel a year and considering how many there are I’m not sure whether I will actually get through them all at that rate, considering I’m only up to Hercule Poirot #5!
The Big Four is the 5th instalment by Christie with the quirky moustachioed Belgian detective as the chief protagonist. As arrogant and smug as ever, Poirot is on a mission to take down four of the most powerful criminals in the world in this one. Ambitious much? And in 1927 as well… no internet, dark web or ease of global communication tracking.
I would say this is the most far fetched of Christie’s novels I’ve read so far, however, who am I to say what the world was like almost 100 years ago as far as this went.
This was an easy read in many respects. There were less than usual characters to stay abreast of (in my opinion) than Christie’s locked room mysteries. Not a bad read. Three stars from me. ...more
I’ve had László Krasznahorkai on my ‘author TBR’ list for some time. The fact he is the Nobel Prize recipient for 2025 and that I was heading on a triI’ve had László Krasznahorkai on my ‘author TBR’ list for some time. The fact he is the Nobel Prize recipient for 2025 and that I was heading on a trip to Budapest, caused me to take ‘The World Goes On’ with me. I can’t remember where I picked this particular book up from and as it is the only Krasznahorkai book I own, it seemed like a logical starting point, despite some misgivings after reading reviews of where it might be best to start with his works.
However, having completed this set of … I’m not quite sure what to call them - Stories? Essays? Meditations?… I am mesmerised. ‘The World Goes On’ is such an apt title. These are indeed about the stuff of the world. The people of the world. The journeys that people take or are propelled on, whether by choice or not (is there really choice?), the individual and the collective, the parts and the whole. Krasznahorkai has illuminated life as it is. The result for me is sobering, enlightening, challenging and reflective.
I found Krasznahorkai’s use of the interrelationship between the whole and the parts really thought provoking. I’ve always subscribed to the belief that the whole is the sum of its parts and that the whole is an entity in and of itself that I must be able to grasp in order to understand the meaning of the parts. In the ‘story’ entitled Nine Dragon Crossing, Krasznahorkai writes:
“the entirety of the Whole is not a sum of the smaller wholes but simply exists... if it existed, except that it does not, therefore there isn't any sense in talking about it, which would be all right, except for one problem, that now the belief in it also has no sense, however, without it our entire way of thinking collapses,”
The parts are exactly that - parts. Each equally important as the other. They make up the whole but the whole is not understood through them. I think that’s what I take from this one.
Krasznahorkai has made me really think. I can’t say how many sections I had to read and reread to get a sense of what was being said. That was a joy for me. This has been a very mindful reading experience and for that I thank this Nobel Prize awardee. The fact that each piece is set in or connects to a different geographic part of the world adds to the reading experience and set me on many a journey in a pursuit to understand geographically, metaphorically and historically.
I could write about each of these twenty-one individual parts that make up The World Goes On. They are each a whole in themselves. They do not make up the larger whole. They need to be understood as the integral parts that they are. Are they linked? I can make out links which aids my overall understanding of this work. The links make meaning for me. This is a most magnificent read. I couldn’t be more thankful for this author for bringing voice to those connected to these stories. I’m looking at and reflecting on the part that I exist in and that connects me in someway to the whole....more
“There are always so many things one doesn’t know about a person, even a person one loves - good things, bad things. We have to leave plenty of room f“There are always so many things one doesn’t know about a person, even a person one loves - good things, bad things. We have to leave plenty of room for them.” p100
I have been keen to read The Third Man by Graham Greene. I’m not actually sure why to be honest. And the book I managed to get my hands on had a number of short stories with it, which was a real bonus!
The Third Man as the first of the short stories in this volume is kind of like a novella of sorts - a rocking good murder mystery set in post WW2 Vienna. On my way to Vienna currently so was keen to get a feel for something based in a city with so much history, and so many stories to tell. Centred around Rollo Martins and Harry Lime, this is a murder mystery with a sting. I loved it. The quote at the beginning of this narrative review stood out to me. It probably sums up the mysteries of this story and is probably a Freudian slip - which is apt considering it’s set in Vienna.
Among the other stories there were a few standouts for me:
“May we borrow your husband?” - very insightful, a touch of humour, melancholy, intrigue with an underlying theme reminiscent of Giovanni’s Room. Loved it.
“Mortmain” - echoes of “Fatal Attraction” and a little Hitchcock-esque imo. What do you do when your ex won’t stop leaving notes everywhere and helping you and your need partner get to know each other?
“A shocking accident” - this one actually made me laugh in all the right places. I wasn’t expecting to wonder what happened to the pig in any of these stories.
“Two gentle people” - poignant and reflective. “I was thinking that things might have been different” p304… say no more.
“The fallen idol” - I actually found this one quite shocking in so many ways. Riveting and not how I actually wanted it to end but who am I?
A great selection of stories. I reckon 4.5 stars, probably rounded down to 4. ...more
Old Masters: A Comedy is my first foray into anything by Thomas Bernhard. I’ve been keen to read Bernhard for a good while now. I’m really struck by tOld Masters: A Comedy is my first foray into anything by Thomas Bernhard. I’ve been keen to read Bernhard for a good while now. I’m really struck by the candour of this book. There’s no beating around the bush. It’s frank, and pulls no punches. I’m gathering that this is Bernhard’s style. I like it very much.
Old Masters is basically one long 247-page paragraph. It’s like a retelling of a whole conversation on multiple topics between two friends, Atzbacher and Reger. Atzbacher is doing the retelling and Reger is doing the majority of the telling in the first place.
Set in the Bordone Room in Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, Atzbacher has been summoned there by Reger on a Saturday at 11:30am. Atzbacher is there an hour earlier observing Reger from a distance, and recalling the conversation between them from the day before.
The setting is intriguing in and of itself. For 30 years, Reger, a music critic who writes for The Times, has sat on the same settee every other day in front of Tinoretto’s ‘White Bearded Man’. “Everybody needs such a routine for survival, he said. It may be the craziest of all routines but he needs it. Reger’s condition seems to have improved, his way of speaking is once more the same as before the death of his wife”. p17
This is a meandering retelling of a number of conversations that cover lots of topics, many of which centre around the state of affairs in Austria and Vienna. It’s curious the way we get to hear the conversation as recalled as opposed to a direct dialogue from Reger. Not sure what that really means but the narrative is second hand and not a dialogic interaction.
Reger is 82 years old, recently widowed and expresses a range of opinions across a range of issues in a forthright and direct manner. Everything is covered from art, music, literature, reading, school education, teachers, art historians, contemporary Viennese and Austrian society, the state of Viennese lavatories and the list goes on. It’s certainly not an advertisement for Vienna and Reger’s views are strong. I could imagine a man at 82 years not holding back. Reminded me of my dad before he passed, actually, and made me wonder what my views about my world really are, especially when unrestrained.
Bernhard has written in such a way that I am caused to reflect a great deal on how I approach and view things, how individuated am in regards to my tastes and preferences, what are the influences over my understanding of a appreciation of art, music, literature.
Despite Reger’s strong opinions I liked the way he was also self aware and reflective enough to know when he was contradicting himself… “I am always consumed with curiosity, Reger said, even though I always say I am not consumed with curiosity…”; when he was forcing his views on another… “when all is said and done, we force it with all the frantic ruthlessness we are capable of.”
I very much resonated with Reger. He really made me think....more
Loading...
