Recent Reads Early January

Books discussed:
Intro 0:00
"Verdigris" - Michele Mari 1:23
A controlled rant about Classical Music 7:00
"Concerto For A Sentence" - Emiliya Dvoryanova 13:33
"Pink Slime" - Fernanda Trias 17:20
"Madrid Will Be Their Tomb" - Elizabeth Duvall 21:30
"Of Cattle And Men" - Ana Paula Maia 26:32
"Blackouts" - Justin Torres 29:19
Other books mentioned"Old Rendering Plant" - Wolfgang Hilbig • Recent Reads - Mid March
"The New Life" - Tom Crewe • The New Life by Tom Crewe
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In addition to being a book reviewer, I am also an author and my latest published book is "The Death Of The Author (In Triplicate)" available direct from the publishers Corona/Samizdat coronasamizdat.com/index.php?...
For more about the content of the book sulcicollective.blogspot.com/...

[@user-dw1mu6vw6b]

Always look forward to your reviews and insight as an author, Mark. You're one of the few channels that consistently highlights books from authors trying to do something different with the novel. Just added a few of these to my soon-to-be read. Cheers, man.

[@rogeraisha9276]

Great review!

[@mayhem492]

Re your preamble to the second book; I had very little exposure to classical music as a child, the school I attended (on a council estate on Sheffield in 70/80’s) had a very small music department and I can barely remember any music lessons at all. At home my parents taste ranged from music from their own youth (rock and roll) up to 70’s crooners (Perry Como being a favourite of my mother’s !). Over the last 20 or so years I have tried to appreciate classical music more and also tried study its forms and structure etc. It now appears to make ‘contemporary’ or ‘pop music’ feel thin and disposable by comparison. Bach’s Mass in B Minor or Oasis’ Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, both ‘late career offerings’ Mmmm.

[@MarcNash]

I can see that absolutely, in terms of thinness of today's music, but it's just not a path I can follow. Before punk came along I used to listen to Pink Floyd, Genesis etc, but now all that music just sounds so slow to my ear after punk speeded everything up, that I just can't listen to it any more!

[@mayhem492]

@@MarcNash It was the same glam, prog, punk trajectory I followed (all good stuff by the way!), it seems we diverged a little after that. Try Balenescu Quartet’s take on Kraftwork’s music, it got me interested!

[@Godovgrind]

👍👍👍

[@bluewordsme2]

fabulous review....i only know Maia and Torres....and Blackouts is on my 'reading soon list'....and Mari sounds brilliant and i've just ordered...and speaking of music, Mari wrote a novel about Pink Floyd!! (thank you Wiki)....it sounds like a brilliant book and he is also a poet (!!)....anyway, regarding classical music: i love classical music (all, classical, modern and contemporary) and jazz (what i grew up listening to in home in Taiwan...until i was 14, and my music teacher was awesome--he taught us about The Beatles , we learned to play instruments to The Beatles...and i first discovered them at 14, and he introduce us to rock and punk...so that when i returned from England and discovered England punk, and beatles, my life was forever changed.....a shame, sounds like the way they teach music in England was awful....anyway, see you soon and thanks for the review of Mari...very excited......lovely job...bb

[@bluewordsme2]

Torres first novel is the same, short episodic, nearly poetry, stories about his life....Blackout won the National Book Award...

[@MarcNash]

is the Mari book on Floyd anything to do with the concert they played in Pompeii?

[@bluewordsme2]

@@MarcNash i think it is about Syd's breakdown....i read about the italian version...it sounds fascinating....

[@user-io9sb3fo6e]

The colophon of Rosso Floyd has some hints; the book -rotating around Syd Barret’s breakdown- is “a novel in 30 confessions, 53 testimonies, 27 lamentations of which 11 ultramundane, 6 interrogations, 3 exhortations, 15 reports, one revelation and one contemplation”. It was a beautiful read

[@MarcNash]

@@user-io9sb3fo6e thank you, colour me intrigued

[@josmith5992]

I read Fernanda Trias’s novel The Rooftoo last year and that wasn’t entirely successful either although it sounds much more focused than this one and with similar elements. Verdigris does sound rather wonderful, I don’t think you’re that worried about book covers Marc but what do you make of And Other Stories new white with the opening sentence format?

[@MarcNash]

Yeah it is kind of unremarkable to have such plain covers, I agree Jo!

[@BookishTexan]

Verdigris added. School work as punishment is so stupid. Your music teacher sounds a bit of a tyrant.

[@MarcNash]

His physicality did not back up his manner. he was the manager of the 3rd team at cricket so in the 6th form he needed mys ervices (in 6th form music is no longer studied) and we had an uneasy relationship for the sake of the team