i’ve been re-reading The Power Broker (Robert Caro). an essential work of non-fiction for any New Yorker. it’s a massive tome – i started it in march and am just now finishing it. when reading it in my 20’s i thought it a brilliant work of biography. on this read i’m finding it a brilliant work of political science. if one is curious as to why we are where we are in this country, you couldn’t do better than starting with this book.
there is a discussion with the author tonight, hosted by the New York Historical Society, as it’s the 50th anniversary of this masterpiece. i just got tickets.
An incredible book, absurdly detailed yet extremely readable. Won’t be rereading it as I have too many books in the queue but it occupies a proud spot on the shelf. But why isn’t Caro (age 88) spending every waking moment finishing the last volume of his masterful LBJ series?? (a half serious question). We need that book!
Re the Rooster rec of Stephen King: I liked the first novella, Ava Gardner and the Shawshank Redemption (prefer the ending in the movie) but the graphic description of prison rape really put me off.
Onto the second story, got more and more disturbing, should have stopped when a stray cat was lured and tossed into a hot oven.
yes! i’ve listened to a couple interviews with Caro this year and by all accounts he’s still endeavoring to complete the series. he still walks over to his office every morning and puts in a full day creating prose from his 1000’s of note cards. hopefully the universe will align and he has the time to finish it. give this guy the Medal of Freedom already.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. I read the Different Seasons collection many times back when i just couldn’t buy more books whenever I wanted. The whole collection is great but RH&SR is the best, followed by The Body (made into another great movie, Stand By Me), Apt Pupil (made into yet another movie that I have not seen), and finally The Breathing Method.
As for the Shawshank Redemption movie, it’s deserving of its status. Agree it’s hard to see anyone besides Morgan Freeman as Red. It’s amusing to me to see basically half the population of the prison being black when back in the 1950s the black population of Maine could be counted on your fingers and toes.
Finally, it’s great that both the Shawshank and Stand By Me movies take dialogue directly from the corresponding novella. King knocked these out of the park.
My guests gifted me a book on the day they left. I took them to the Colombo International Book Fair and we bought books for each other They gifted me The English Spy by Daniel Silva. Started reading it today. The first chapter was very interesting, I guess it’s going to be in my favourites category if it delivers. Going to continue after lunch.
It was their last day of the tour and I took them just a few hours before their flight home. I wish they had more time there.
Someone here recommended Silva’s Daniel Allon series, of which The English Spy is one, a couple of years ago. I listened to 3 or 4 or the books and really enjoyed them. Need to jump back in.
Thanks.
I am actually writing an article about the good, the bad, and the ugly in tourism with my experiences for my old blog page. Some stuff/behaviour I saw are adorable, and some are abominable. I’ll write here too, will write in a new thread.
Finished the first 2 chapters today. So far very good. I still have a few books I haven’t read, but this one I’m reading probably within tomorrow. I bought “The Afghan” by Frederick Forsyth more than 10 years ago I guess, and haven’t read it yet.
I read GWTW the summer before 8th grade. Fell in love with Ashley Wilkes of course. I saw the movie at the theater later that summer. The costumes!
I read Lonesome Dove the summer after having #1 kiddo, then the sequels and prequels. Then saw the movie. Loved it, too. Not too keen on the movie sequels and prequels. No big summer reading this year. Many years ago read Shogun, then saw the movie on TV. Same with The Thornbirds. Star Wars.
Read the book first, then see if the movie lives up to the writing.
They gifted me The English Spy by Daniel Silva. Started reading it today. The first chapter was very interesting, I guess it’s going to be in my favourites category if it delivers. Going to continue after lunch.
