Jump to content


  • Content Count

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by lunababymoonchild

  1. Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin (Author), Michael Hofmann (Translator)
  2. I probably should have waited until the paper-back came out before I read this, having read The Corset by Laura Purcell this year already, but I read it anyway. Amazon puts I better than I can : Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home. Forty years later, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralysed and almost entirely mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try and escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers that her new home may be just as dangerous as her last. I enjoyed this book very much but it wasn't as good as previous novels by Purcell, there just seemed to be something missing. I did not like the bitsy aspect of the novel at all, she starts of with the maid Hester Why and then, around halfway through, goes back forty years and explains Miss Pinecroft's experiences. I guessed some of it near the end and that never bodes well. That said, I enjoyed the book enough to keep reading until the end and it's well written by Purcell, just not as good as her previous novel. I still recommend it, though.
  3. The archer and his bow Are always two of a kind Like the bow is alive They share a synced mind The archer and his bow Cannot be torn apart For shot after shot They share the same heart The archer and his bow Never cease to amaze They are together Throughout all days The archer and his bow Without each other, are nothing But when brought together They are quite something The archer and his bow Take aim and let the arrow fly It hits, fast as lightning Perfect bulls-eye The archer and his bow Celebrate victory The greatest of all The archers in history The archer and his bow Always achieve glory Though this is the end Of their epic story The Archer's Bow by Shelbie Hale
  4. I knew there was something that did not ring quite true. I always thought that eradicating inherited diseases was a good thing. My family's disabilities were inherited and my mother said that had she known that sooner she would not have had children, and she was desperate to have children. Fortunately neither of us is affected but I found that chilling.
  5. I finished watching this last night and frankly, I'm shocked. As far as BBC4 is concerned Eugenics consists of selectively breeding human beings. It started in the 1920's and in Great Britain and alleges that this is where Hitler got his ideas from. I don't believe that for a moment so I'm at a loss as to how to view the rest of the programme. Apparently, nowadays some people do still believe in eugenics insofar as they believe that people with disabilities or a low IQ should be prevented from reproducing. They also touched on the research that's being done to eradicate disabilities that can be detected in pregnancy, such as Down's Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis. This programme made me think about my own views, which is why I watched the second part. I always thought that streaming out things like Cystic Fibrosis and Down's Syndrome et al was a good thing (although I did advise a friend who had the Down's Syndrome test in pregnancy that it wasn't that bad and that aborting a 5 month old pregnancy wasn't necessarily a good thing. The test came back negative as it turned out and I've never been faced with that decision myself). I should point out here that I was brought up in a family full of disabled people. My mother was the oldest of six and four out of the other five were both mentally and physically disabled so I do know how hard it is to have disabilities in the family and I'm glad that I've never been faced with the moral dilemma of having to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy based on a disability test, or, for that matter, having my embryo genetically altered to remove the disability, which is available now. Something to think about.
  6. Great weather here for pluviophiles. I am aware that it's not everyone's cup of tea and when flood s are the result I'm sure that it's less than popular. Good reading weather though!
  7. Gosh, Binker, what a thing to go through. I hope that you are healing well
  8. I have been reading Smart Notes about this and it's very enlightening.
  9. So, we'll go no more a roving So late into the night, Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright. For the sword outwears its sheath, And the soul wears out the breast, And the heart must pause to breathe, And love itself have rest. Though the night was made for loving, And the day returns too soon, Yet we'll go no more a roving By the light of the moon. So We'll Go No More a Roving BY LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON)
  10. Ginger Baker, legendary drummer especially in Cream Ginger Baker
  11. I found this too. I came to this book because I decided that it was time I read it, it was short and I'd bought it in a 'bargain' with a set of other Penguin Classics. It took quite some length of time to read the whole book, a lot longer than I anticipated given it's length but I enjoyed it. Like Hazel : "................... Conrad really manipulates language to firstly, pound the notion of 'darkness' and 'light' on you, secondly, transport you to an unimaginable habitat and people, and thirdly, bewilder you with discussion of shipping, ivory, the government, and finally Kurtz himself. Is he bad, good, hero, criminal, to be admired, to be feared, or all of the above? For the most part I was confused - but I think I was meant to be. Conrad really wants you to be empathetic to Marlow (for the majority of the novel our narrator), yet through using a primary unnamed narrator, be also on the outskirts listening to this wild tale. To be honest, I enjoyed reading it - .................. and I never quite knew where I was, but that was kind of the point and I am still thinking about the book. The length of the book is slight, but that suits this story because it is essentially just one tale being told in conversation to a group of men. Hmmmm, it's a thinker folks." I agree with everything Hazel posts (amendments mine) . It is a thinker and I'm going to spend today, at least, thinking about it. It did have language in it that I enjoyed and several words that I had to look up. My copy has an article at the back explain the book so I'll read that and I might have a peek at Smart Notes.
  12. No, it never has. Skipping ahead just never occurred to me, it has now. I agree, we need to hear from someone who does speed read Phew! I have come across the 'I've started so I must finish' approach to a book. A friend I have had since school days does this and she says that she can't bear to let a book get the better of her. I can't imagine anything worse! I think that the reason children are not taught how to skip ahead is to stop them doing it all the time, otherwise they would never read anything.
  13. The gist of the article is that it's not possible to speed read the way that speed reading courses teach. I understood that it's a given that it's your book and your time so you do what you want. I just mentioned that I don't skip bits but that's just my opinion and not at all intended as a criticism.
  14. Stand still, and I will read to thee A lecture, love, in love's philosophy. These three hours that we have spent, Walking here, two shadows went Along with us, which we ourselves produc'd. But, now the sun is just above our head, We do those shadows tread, And to brave clearness all things are reduc'd. So whilst our infant loves did grow, Disguises did, and shadows, flow From us, and our cares; but now 'tis not so. That love has not attain'd the high'st degree, Which is still diligent lest others see. Except our loves at this noon stay, We shall new shadows make the other way. As the first were made to blind Others, these which come behind Will work upon ourselves, and blind our eyes. If our loves faint, and westwardly decline, To me thou, falsely, thine, And I to thee mine actions shall disguise. The morning shadows wear away, But these grow longer all the day; But oh, love's day is short, if love decay. Love is a growing, or full constant light, And his first minute, after noon, is night. A Lecture upon the Shadow by John Donne
  15. I have aspired to learn to learn to speed read in the past because I felt that I wasn't reading nearly enough books in a year. I do have a learn to speed read book but have never gotten around to actually learning, so this article was very interesting to me. This year, as it turns out, I have already read more than I ever have in any year. Do I read faster? No, I have an average reading rate (checked it on the internet), I have just chosen to read rather than do other things. That, and I've had some long periods of ill health this year where all I wanted to do/was capable of doing was to read. And I've had less refusals this year too so have been better at choosing my reads. I don't skim read or miss out bits when I'm reading, I either read every word or nothing at all but I do keep books to re-read and I have, this year, read two at the same time - when I was reading Emma Goldman's biography, for example, I could only read 16 pages a day because it was so detailed and fact filled, so I had a companion book to read because if I don't read 50 or so pages a day I start twitching, lol. I have come across an app where you can read classics (currently Nelly Bly's 10 Days in an Asylum) in 15 minutes a day, which is lovely. I don't like e-books normally because the way I read the batteries can't take it, even in a dedicated e-book reader.
  16. This popped up on my FB and I found it very interesting. Any thoughts? The speed reading fallacy: the case for slow reading
  17. I'm a die hard Stephen King fan and I've only ever started one of his books and decided that I didn't like it (The Gunslinger, part one of the Dark Tower series) and I've been reading him for a very long time. I have started a few that I decided were too horrific for me to read! That said I enjoy his horror fiction most but had to stop reading that as it was affecting my personality, or so my brother told me. The Institute isn't horror fiction, not by my definition of an SK horror, but it's engaging anyway. It's about children who are kidnapped, their parents killed and the children locked in an institute where they are tortured and then used to kill, with their minds. When they are used up they die and are cremated. This, apparently, has been going on for some 50 years or more. One of the kids escapes and that leads to the climax of the book. I enjoyed the book as far as it went but it felt very familiar so I may have read/seen something similar in the past. It's the only Stephen King book that I'm not keeping so although I enjoyed it, it's not a keeper - either that or I'm jaded.
  18. Four Trees—upon a solitary Acre— Without Design Or Order, or Apparent Action— Maintain— The Sun—upon a Morning meets them— The Wind— No nearer Neighbor—have they— But God— The Acre gives them—Place— They—Him—Attention of Passer by— Of Shadow, or of Squirrel, haply— Or Boy— What Deed is Theirs unto the General Nature— What Plan They severally—retard—or further— Unknown— Four Trees upon A Solitary Acre - by Emily Dickinson
  19. I decided to watch the TV series after I finished The Testaments and gave up part way through the second programme. The Testaments - as far as I'm aware - came about as a result of 35 years of constant asking by fans. I'm sure, though, that the TV series did have something to do with it. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that The Testaments is worth reading and if you enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale you will enjoy The Testaments.
  20. I also detest the phrase ‘to gift’
  • Create New...