Giono, Himelstein, Shelden, Wilson, Kilcullen

Since my last post,I've read an issue of Gentleman's Quarterly, OK Magazine, The New Scientist and Eclectic Reading.

I have also read the first three volumes of Jean Giono's novels, which are in chronological order, and his essays, journal, and short stories. I found his essays and journal of little interest, except for his pacifist essays and his impressions of the Liberation of France. He does break out into short plays and embryonic film scenarios, in the middle of essays, which shows a certain freedom about forms. I found his early novels and his short stories or novella also to be of little interest, but his latter novels are much more interesting, more gripping and more lively. I had to order the last 3 volumes of the complete novels from inter library loan, and I now look forward to reading them, as opposed to a chore.

I also read three biographies, two literary and one popular. I read a biography of George Orwell, by Michael Shelden, which I found both sad and interesting, and a biography of Siegfried Sassoon through the end of World War I, by Jean Moorcroft Wilson, which was incredibly detailed for his youth and somehow quite superficial for the crucial war years. I also read a biography of Smirnoff, the vodka maker, by Linda Himelstein, which was not very interesting because it was in a journalistic style.

Finally, I also read David Kilcullen's Accidental Guerrilla. This book, about a new kind of counterinsurgency and what to do about it, is going to be read by a lot of people. It is written in accessible language, and it proposes quite a simple change to the way of thinking about insurgency. I'm not sure it will make much difference, however. I have my own competing theory, that this about strong-side versus weak-side strategy, and if I am correct, then my criticism of Kilcullen is valid. However, the chances of my work attracting any attention at all, since I have no experience in military counterinsurgency, are very low.

Giono

Since my last post, I've read one issue of Hello Canada, OK Magazine, The New Yorker, The New Scientist, Vanity Fair, and The Economist.

Because I'm reading only complete works right now, my blog has slowed down, so I thought I'd give an update. I'm reading the novels of Jean Giono at the moment, in three volumes, and I'm working on volume 2. He is more bucolic than I realized. I've ordered about 13 complete works to see me through the December break.

Julien Green, Sunstein, Bottigheimer, Mackenzie

I have completed reading the works of Julien Green. I have found that his diaries were fascinating and his writing there, so alive, was like learning French all over again. His novels and plays, however, I find his plots psychologically improbable and his characters curiously flat and lifeless. I suppose it is with good reason that his journal is considered his masterpiece.

I also read three essays -- a history of fairy tales by Bottigheimer, which was interesting for the sake of the preservation of culture through folkways; and Infotopia and Rumours by Cass Sunstein. These latter two books tread on ground I'd covered before. He seems to write books about topics that others have written about more, and in greater depth, a recapitulateur, we would say in French.

Finally I read Lewis McKenzie's Soldiers Make Me Look Good, his autobiography. I didn't much like it. It seemed to me a book written by someone who lost his professional status and never got over it, never quite found his place in the world.

James VI and I, Sunstein, Mantel, Crawford

I read three biographies of James VI and I, because I had read several times that he was unlikeable. I read his biography by Antonia Fraser, David Mathew, and by David Wilson. I found that his manners were poor by the standards of the English court, and that he was some sort of bite problem that made him an ungracious eater, but so what? I also read a history of the end of smallpox, which was written by one of the workers in the trenches who insert himself too much into the story, and a book on Shop Craft as Soul Craft, by Matthew Crawford, which I found unconvincing since the author has given up the manual labor. I also read three of Cass Sunstein's works, Why groups go to extremes, Going to Extremes, and Worst-Case Scenarios. I was reading them to try and figure out what students do when they use the Internet, but these books were about a different topic. I also read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which I didn't find enthralling.

Julien Green

Since my last post, I've read an issue of The Economist, two issues of The New Scientist, three issues of Eclectic Reading, an issue of OK Magazine, and two issues of The New Yorker.

I've also finished reading the three volumes of Julien Green's journals, which were wonderful in every respect. I've now moved on to short stories and novels, and the characters are flat. He is indeed a better diarist than a novelist. I also read a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich. I wasn't enthralled. Now I'm reading another murder mystery, using Internet stalking, and that managed to scare me. Can't remember the author off the top of my head.

Celine

I have now read all of Celine's novels. I read that his contributions to literature influence Hemingway and many others, I assume from introducing the vernacular spoken word into literature. But I find that he influenced primarily the development of pulp fiction, much as Jane Austen gave rise to Harlequin romances. I also found Celine difficult to read, as I was not familiar with the vernacular of France in the 30s, 40s and 50s. He employed an interesting stratagem for his trilogy on World War II, which is supposed to be Celine at his best: he used a character called Celine, obviously himself, in all three. It was interesting from an structural standpoint, but was primarily effective in making me wonder how much was fiction, as he is known to have traveled to the places at the times described in the novels. I also read an issue of OK Magazine, an issue of The New Yorker, two issues of Eclectic Reading, two issues of The Economist, and an issue of The New Scientist since my last post.

I have now returned to the delights of Julien Green's journals.

Jules Renard

I read his novels and short stories, and I understand the verdict of history on him, that he was the poet of the countryside, and also that he is like Mallarme in his experiments with structure. I think he is largely successful in his experiments, unlike Mallarme himself. I also read his journals, which are combined with his writer's notebook. It was harder to pick out the journal parts from the notebook part, but I did think it was interesting to read about the notes he took as time went by. I didn't read his plays.

Since my last post, I also read OK Magazine, an issue of Eclectic Reading, an issue of The New Yorker, and an issue of The New Scientist. I'm reading two issues of The Economist simultaneously.