Hi All
many thanks to Jeff for hosting our recent meeting and for his generosity in providing cigars, jumpers and tobermory single malt whisky to keep us warm as the sun set in his garden.
Those that had actually read the corner v. much enjoyed it. It is a long book but a useful book which offers a clear headed analysis of urban living in pi$$ poor communities. I couldn't help thinking of the row houses on Mountjoy square as I read it. A couple of us had actually looked up Fayette and Monroe (the actual corner) to see if there was much slinging going on but it seems pretty quiet at the moment.though there are a couple of dudes taking something from a truck - click on this- http://maps.google.co.uk/ then search for:
fayette and monroe baltimore md
click on the red pin and opt for "street view"
Tony and richie found it a little harder to penetrate that the rest of us and I admit I too struggled a little until I had hit the halfway point. It is a little over written and repetitive in places but I found once I hid the midway point I rattled through to the end with relative ease.
Anyone that has seen the wire will find much familiar in the book including characters. Many of the real people in "the corner" actually had bit parts in the wire. I also reccomend the mini series made by hbo. Steve has our copy at the moment but he will pass it to anyone interested once he has watched it.
Our next meeting date has not been decided upon but lets try to have it in early September when the weather is still warm enough to sit out and smoke cigars in.
Our choices for the summer are as follows -
The Decisive Moment by Jonah Lehrer (which I think is called "How We Decide" in the original american edition.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Decisive-Moment-Brain-Makes-Mind/dp/1847673155/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2
ny times review here - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/books/review/Johnson-t.html
Our second choice is Bill Bryson's book on Shakespeare
this is a link to the hardback version which is available for a penny (plus about a fiver postage)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-World-Stage-Eminent-Lives/dp/0007197896/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277118164&sr=1-2
Both these books are relatively short an easy to read (from my glancing at them).
As an afterthought and if you enjoy the shakespeare book I strongly recommend 1599 - a year in the life of shakespeare which I read a couple of years ago. 1599 was a pivotal year in shakespeare''s career and is one of the few years we can track a fair bit of his movements and what he was working on.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/1599-Year-Life-William-Shakespeare/dp/0571214819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277118406&sr=1-1
enjoy the summer...
leslie
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Review and Preview
Apologies for my tardiness in emailing/posting. Many thanks again Tony for an excellent night.
Next venue is not decided but we should aim for mid April with the possibility of pushing it to May only if necessary.
The book is The Corner by David Simon and Ed Burns
Wikipedia Entry
Amazon.com
Telegraph Review - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5369733/The-Corner-by-David-Simon-and-Ed-Burns-review.html
This should be available in bookshops around town (I know a couple of members have already purchased their copies). The book is a true account of one year in the life of a corner where drugs are sold in inner city Baltimore.
David Simon wrote The Wire which is widely believed to be one of the best TV series ever written. It is multi layered and deeply satisfying. each of the 5 series is a novel in itself (and just like a novel you need to check back a few pages (or episodes) to remind yourself of who some of the characters are. SImon also developed The Corner into a fictionalised mini-series for HBO.
Simon was a reporter on the City desk of the Baltimore Sun and Ed Burns is a former Homicide detective. Simon spent a year following the Homicide squad around and wrote a book about it which was developed into a CBS TV series with Barry Levinson (Diner, Sleepers, Wag the Dog etc.) - Homicide Life on the Street. Myself and Caitriona were huge fans of this and have my copy of the original book from about 1995 (pre-Internet - we had a US cousin post a copy). This series starred the likes of David Belzer, Ned Beatty, William Baldwin, Yaphet Koto (big black guy from the first Alien movie), Andre Braugher and many other faces you would know and was far from conventional - some episodes they didn't even have a murder to solve, they just sat around drinking coffee and arguing. I have the first (and best) series on dvd if anyone is interested.
Now a quick review of last month's books -
My two gin and tonics and half a bottle of wine consumed before my arrival, added to my consumption on arrival, leaves me with a rather hazier than usual recollection of our discussion but I will do my best... (feel free to correct me!)
Lost City of Z was enjoyed by all. We wondered at the madness of bringing your son with you on such an expedition but maybe nobody else could have coped with such hardship. We also wondered at the madness of the author going on a similar trip with no training whatsoever and only a sat nav and a telephone to rescue him.
New tribes are waiting to be discovered in the Amazon (or rather they are there but have decided not to be join the madness of the modern world just yet. I confirmed this view with my Brazilian student Ana that this is widely accepted in Brazil.
Did the author discover the lost city "Z"? There is mounting evidence that there were very complicated societies in the Amazon in the 15th century until over 90 per cent of them were wiped out by western diseases (same in the north and central america). and as I mentioned before the following book has a similar thesis (but does not mention Z and uses different sources - all anthropology of the americas is starting to believe that a much more sophisticated culture was wiped out by the arrival of europeans than previously believed)
"Ancient Americans" by Charles C. Mann-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Americans-Rewriting-History-World/dp/1862076170 target="new"
or just borrow my copy.
Our Second Choice "Fateful Choices" by Ian Kershaw proved a little harder for us to get through. It is rather densely written but is intensely researched and a good reference tool for answering questions we all have about WW2 - what was Hitler thinking when he invaded russia? Why on Earth did Mussolini invade Greece? What were the Japanese thinking by bombing Pearl Harbour? Why didn't Stalin accept the numerous intelligence reports that Hitler was about to invade? and Did Hitler really need to kill the Jews? etc.
Certainly some of these decisions could have been avoided or modified. I wondered if some of the chapters could have been merged - e.g. Roosevelt decides to Lend a Hand and Roosevelt Decides to Wage Undeclared War. Others felt the extra depth added was useful as it showed the baby steps R. had to take.
One definitely worth owning and dipping into if not absorbing every detail.
thats all folks
Next venue is not decided but we should aim for mid April with the possibility of pushing it to May only if necessary.
The book is The Corner by David Simon and Ed Burns
Wikipedia Entry
Amazon.com
Telegraph Review - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5369733/The-Corner-by-David-Simon-and-Ed-Burns-review.html
This should be available in bookshops around town (I know a couple of members have already purchased their copies). The book is a true account of one year in the life of a corner where drugs are sold in inner city Baltimore.
David Simon wrote The Wire which is widely believed to be one of the best TV series ever written. It is multi layered and deeply satisfying. each of the 5 series is a novel in itself (and just like a novel you need to check back a few pages (or episodes) to remind yourself of who some of the characters are. SImon also developed The Corner into a fictionalised mini-series for HBO.
Simon was a reporter on the City desk of the Baltimore Sun and Ed Burns is a former Homicide detective. Simon spent a year following the Homicide squad around and wrote a book about it which was developed into a CBS TV series with Barry Levinson (Diner, Sleepers, Wag the Dog etc.) - Homicide Life on the Street. Myself and Caitriona were huge fans of this and have my copy of the original book from about 1995 (pre-Internet - we had a US cousin post a copy). This series starred the likes of David Belzer, Ned Beatty, William Baldwin, Yaphet Koto (big black guy from the first Alien movie), Andre Braugher and many other faces you would know and was far from conventional - some episodes they didn't even have a murder to solve, they just sat around drinking coffee and arguing. I have the first (and best) series on dvd if anyone is interested.
Now a quick review of last month's books -
My two gin and tonics and half a bottle of wine consumed before my arrival, added to my consumption on arrival, leaves me with a rather hazier than usual recollection of our discussion but I will do my best... (feel free to correct me!)
Lost City of Z was enjoyed by all. We wondered at the madness of bringing your son with you on such an expedition but maybe nobody else could have coped with such hardship. We also wondered at the madness of the author going on a similar trip with no training whatsoever and only a sat nav and a telephone to rescue him.
New tribes are waiting to be discovered in the Amazon (or rather they are there but have decided not to be join the madness of the modern world just yet. I confirmed this view with my Brazilian student Ana that this is widely accepted in Brazil.
Did the author discover the lost city "Z"? There is mounting evidence that there were very complicated societies in the Amazon in the 15th century until over 90 per cent of them were wiped out by western diseases (same in the north and central america). and as I mentioned before the following book has a similar thesis (but does not mention Z and uses different sources - all anthropology of the americas is starting to believe that a much more sophisticated culture was wiped out by the arrival of europeans than previously believed)
"Ancient Americans" by Charles C. Mann-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Americans-Rewriting-History-World/dp/1862076170 target="new"
or just borrow my copy.
Our Second Choice "Fateful Choices" by Ian Kershaw proved a little harder for us to get through. It is rather densely written but is intensely researched and a good reference tool for answering questions we all have about WW2 - what was Hitler thinking when he invaded russia? Why on Earth did Mussolini invade Greece? What were the Japanese thinking by bombing Pearl Harbour? Why didn't Stalin accept the numerous intelligence reports that Hitler was about to invade? and Did Hitler really need to kill the Jews? etc.
Certainly some of these decisions could have been avoided or modified. I wondered if some of the chapters could have been merged - e.g. Roosevelt decides to Lend a Hand and Roosevelt Decides to Wage Undeclared War. Others felt the extra depth added was useful as it showed the baby steps R. had to take.
One definitely worth owning and dipping into if not absorbing every detail.
thats all folks
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thur. Feb. 25th
Hi All
hopefully none of you noticed. I put the 24th on the blog instead of the 25th.
l.
hopefully none of you noticed. I put the 24th on the blog instead of the 25th.
l.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Next Meeting - Feb 25th 2010
Next Meeting in Tony's House on Thursday 25th February 2010. Tony lives at no. 40 on the same side as our house but up towards the park.
For those that have read Lost City of Z for further reading you might enjoy "Ancient Americans" by Charles C. Mann-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Americans-Rewriting-History-World/dp/1862076170
Happy to loan my copy to anyone interested. I won it in a text competition on Newstalk a few years back (the answer was lake titicaca). The conclusions in Z were not unexpected to me because I had read Mann's book. Mann distills down all the recent archaeological evidence about the amazon (and all parts of north and south america) and comes to the same conclusions that Grann does. Many of the sources are the same for both books but Mann's book is about all of America. A popular idea of America (and part of its own myth) is that it was a great untapped wilderness until it was colonised and tamed. In fact it was teeming with life until small pox and measles wiped out almost everyone. One estimate in Ancient Americans is that as many as 95% of native americans had died within 130 years of the arrival of Europeans. once the people were gone their structures rotted went back under the forests.
also I should mention we have some Amazon pottery in the house from a trip to Belem (on the Amazon Delta) when Caitriona worked for GPA. Remind me to show it to ye the next time ye are in the house.
For those that have read Lost City of Z for further reading you might enjoy "Ancient Americans" by Charles C. Mann-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Americans-Rewriting-History-World/dp/1862076170
Happy to loan my copy to anyone interested. I won it in a text competition on Newstalk a few years back (the answer was lake titicaca). The conclusions in Z were not unexpected to me because I had read Mann's book. Mann distills down all the recent archaeological evidence about the amazon (and all parts of north and south america) and comes to the same conclusions that Grann does. Many of the sources are the same for both books but Mann's book is about all of America. A popular idea of America (and part of its own myth) is that it was a great untapped wilderness until it was colonised and tamed. In fact it was teeming with life until small pox and measles wiped out almost everyone. One estimate in Ancient Americans is that as many as 95% of native americans had died within 130 years of the arrival of Europeans. once the people were gone their structures rotted went back under the forests.
also I should mention we have some Amazon pottery in the house from a trip to Belem (on the Amazon Delta) when Caitriona worked for GPA. Remind me to show it to ye the next time ye are in the house.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Mandela, Rugby and that match
p.s. - this looks good - had a tear in my eye remembering it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ovkye6lac
and its based on this book -
http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Enemy-Nelson-Mandela-Nation/dp/1594201749
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ovkye6lac
and its based on this book -
http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Enemy-Nelson-Mandela-Nation/dp/1594201749
Book for December/January 2009/2010
Hi All
sorry for the delay in sending this. wont bother thanking myself for hosting the last meeting as that would be weird. In case you forgot the books for the next meeting are as follows -
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-City-Legendary-British-Explorers/dp/1847374360
and also (if you have enough time)
Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World by Ian Kershaw
Paperback version -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fateful-Choices-Decisions-Changed-1940-1941/dp/0141014180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260317364&sr=1-1
and the much nicer hardback version that looks much better and costs a similar amount -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fateful-Choices-Decisions-Changed-1940-1941/dp/0713997125/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260317364&sr=1-2
sorry for the delay in sending this. wont bother thanking myself for hosting the last meeting as that would be weird. In case you forgot the books for the next meeting are as follows -
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-City-Legendary-British-Explorers/dp/1847374360
and also (if you have enough time)
Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World by Ian Kershaw
Paperback version -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fateful-Choices-Decisions-Changed-1940-1941/dp/0141014180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260317364&sr=1-1
and the much nicer hardback version that looks much better and costs a similar amount -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fateful-Choices-Decisions-Changed-1940-1941/dp/0713997125/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260317364&sr=1-2
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
November Meeting Wed 25th
Next meeting is at Leslie's house 16 Ashdale Road, Terenure on Wed 25th next. DONT FORGET THE POEM... Brendan suggested we should all dig out a poem of some sort for this month so why not...
Time is 8.45 for 9. Leaving it at this slightly later time to allow people meet home commitments etc.
leslie
Time is 8.45 for 9. Leaving it at this slightly later time to allow people meet home commitments etc.
leslie
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