small books i read at work

the super-knowledgable pub-quiz legend furnished me with 2 pieces of information on this: mishima was a fascist and the film is rubbish. he didn’t mention that mishima and his boyfriend ritually disemboweled themselves. and all he could tell me about heinrich boll (more on him later) is that he was mentioned in a woody allen film. i’ll have to do my own research when i write that entry.

anyway this book. it’s in 2 parts one part before titular sailor goes away and one part after he comes back. boy watches mother and sailor, erm, making whoopee (thank you colin’s random euphemism generator) and doesn’t like the idea much. plots to deal with said sailor with implausibly verbose school chums.

the first part is atmospheric, erotic, engaging. the second part shares some of these characteristics but the plot clunks along to it’s ropey, sorry, ‘shocking’ conclusion and doesn’t deliver in the way promised by the earlier section.

this book is pretty good out of ten.

can’t tell you a lot about this one except that it is ace. also check ‘lady macbeth of mtensk’ by leskov.

somehow i’ve hit a bit of a seam of stuff about predestination (see also the bridge of san luis rey if i ‘ve posted it yet). the commitment of certain people at certain times to certain ideas is fascinating and for some reason the predestination/free will arguement is one that i find especially interesting.

this is ace out of ten.

i’d say this is well good out of ten. don’t fall into the trap of using its slang in conversation. it will infect you with a small amount boxy an star syndrome.

the jones says the film is rubbish. i’ve not seen it.

gave me my new favourite phrase “it’s a satire of leibnizian optimism” which is especially useful during discussions about itv’s loose women. this is a book which has obviously been discussed to death and the world doesn’t need my contribution.

this gets well good out of ten.

add your mutilated penguin popular classics to this flickr group.

this is the first book i read at my current place of work. i’m particularly interested in the character menalque. i’m going to expand on this one later.

for now be aware that it gets well good out of ten but i’m unsure exactly why. accompany it with sven lindqvist’s desert divers.