Double meme whammy

[altariel]

Here are my ten unread books:

1. The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke: My brother told me to read this when I was a kid. But I haven't.


2. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell: It looks kind of big, and I'm afraid that if I read it, I'll never bother writing again.


3. King Lear: Yeah, yeah, whatever.


4. The Female Eunuch, Germaine Greer: You sort of feel like you should have.


5. The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell: After I saw A Very British Coup for the first time I got this out of the library but I wasn't reading fiction at the time and so I didn't read this either. I got a copy on some Penguin Classic 3 for 2 thing a month or two back.


6. Roverandum, JRR Tolkien: You sort of feel like you should have.


7. A Whistling Woman, AS Byatt: Shit, I'd forgotten I had this.


8. The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie: I thought I'd do a bit of background reading first so that I'd have a clue what was going on but that has never quite happened either.


9. Crowds and Power, Elias Canetti: I picked this one because it was on the original list that went around. Sounds right up my street, doesn't it?


10. Oh I don't know, there are bloody hundreds around here I haven't read. Othello. Ulysses. The Third Rumpole Omnibus.

And here are seven pieces of music that are stuck in my head:

1. Adieu Adieu, Fairport Convention: Very cheerful and sing-a-longy for a song about a robber about to get hanged.


2. Time of No Reply, Nick Drake: Nick Drake released three excessively beautiful folk albums in the late 60s and early 70s. This song is autumnal and calms me in the disappointment of the late afternoon.


3. Goodbye Caroline, Going Through the Motions, I Can't Get My Head Around It, Aimee Mann: Yes, that's three tracks, but they're back-to-back on The Forgotten Arm so I just play them through. These have been stuck in my head since I got the CD, which must be at least 18 months ago now.


4. Beat Surrender, The Jam: Because I made a playlist for some characters to listen to while they were driving along a motorway, and this is exactly the kind of thing they would have on.


5. New Amsterdam, Elvis Costello and the Attractions: And this. Oh, and Oliver's Army too.


6. Fifty Years After the Fair, Aimee Mann: Aimee-centric this list, isn't it? Well, she shouldn't write such bloody brilliant songs.


7. The heavens are telling the glory of God, Haydn, The Creation: Because communicator had a post about intelligent design the other day. Only now I'm thinking of Bloody Stupid Johnson as I sing it.

Comments

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

When I read The Satanic Verses, I thought it was the best commentary on the whole business of The Satanic Verses. I loved it, and I can't remember seeing my mother get so enthusiastic about any other book - oh, except Tom's Midnight Garden.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I loved Midnight's Children; I really should give this a go.

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

Adieu Adieu, Fairport Convention: Very cheerful and sing-a-longy for a song about a robber about to get hanged.

I wonder just how many variations of this one there are. I'm more familiar with Eliza Carthy's version, which is equally sing-a-longy for a nice girl gone to the bad via theft.

Had a copy of Ulysses. Don't now. Must've fallen to the culling process. Did mean to read it, honest...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I have that Eliza Carthy version on CD. The best one I've heard is Richard Thompson's: there's a clip of him singing it linked from here.

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

I'm growing to like Thompson's voice. I would like to hear the rest of that version some time.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

His voice does grow on you. That version was (I think) recorded specially for a series on British folk called Folk Britannia. It was BBC show, so it might turn up on something like BBC World (I don't know what you can get).

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

They've been a bit slack about not keeping British television programs hanging around in the vaults for ages before showing them of late (but then so have the non-commercial stations, because Life On Mars hasn't been seen here yet), but it could still end up being screened by the ABC.

Meanwhile, I want that 1000 years of song thing he did. And a few other folk-type things, but I think that'll have to wait for a trip to the state capital...

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

I mean the commercial stations. Is 10 pm and I'm going to sleep, I think...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-) Good night!

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

And a lovely afternoon (I think) to you :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It is afternoon - and it is indeed lovely out there :-D

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

It's bloody hot. I may have to slip into something cooler if it doesn't change its mind about reverting to midsummer shortly.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The 1000 years of popular music CD is brilliant. There's a DVD too, although I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I love the way he makes Oops, I did it again sound so sinister.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That's my favourite on the CD. And Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt, of course!

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, the fragment from Brittany :) I like the sense of humour there.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I thought you were going to say that song, which I MA NOW STUCK ON! [you spin me right round baby right round, like a record baby]

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oops! Sorry!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Looking forwards to seeing your list!

[aervir.livejournal.com]

The Satanic Verses and Ulysses -- two books I remember reading, but I don't know anything about. Sometimes, I fail at being a literature student.

And my list would be much longer than a mere ten titles...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

King Lear, on the other hand, is definitely worth it. And it's not a very long play, either.

It's a bit lame of me, really.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

Lear's brilliance lies in using the techniques of comedy to tell the most unremittingly grim story you'll ever read. Sounds like your sort of thing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Is it genuinely funny, or is it Shakespeare-funny?

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

It's not funny at all. What I mean is that a lot of the situations that are set up are exactly the kind of thing that you would expect to see in Shakespeare's comedic writing, but the treatment of them is just bleak and tragic. There's one scene in which a character is carefully and painstakingly set up for a massive pratfall, using all the devices of mistaken identity, disguise and so on, but when the pratfall comes it is just heartbreakingly sad because we experience just how badly this character jut wants to die.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yes, it sounds right up my street.

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

I gave up on The Satanic Verses, but I loved The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I really liked the start.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

The heavens are telling ... Drat that's done it ...

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

The wonder of his works proclaims the firmament!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Mine is an evil laugh.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Hi-is new created world, hi-is new created world ...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Springs up! Springs up!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I wasn't even counting the books that made it to the shelves: Ulysses, assorted DH Lawrence, Clarissa... (Though I think the last was probably a present.) The Female Eunuch I remember with fondness, but I read it when I was a kid, which I think might be the right age. The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist drove Mr EA up the wall with boredom, if that's any guide.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think I've reached a point where all those books I put aside years ago because I thought they'd take me so long I could now shoot through in no time. My rapid reading skills seem to be coming back again, I'm pleased to say. Now all I need to do is fix my non-fiction prose writing.