Is this not a tragedy? The ruins of an abandoned Russian library, the full series of pictures is here at English Russia.
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Ali Smith's Artful is art criticism, oh yes, but it's also a dialogue between a woman and her dead lover, and it was originally delivered as a series of lectures, which really means it is a dramatic dialogue. It is a masterpiece of integrity, Smith may be well read, but her take on Oliver Twist or a Cezanne painting, a Charlie Chaplin film, or a Wallace Stevens poem, is never self-consciously erudite. She doesn't mean to dazzle us with her greater knowledge of these subjects, she wants her listener to get inside of how art brings us experience. I challenge you to get to the last page of Artful and not dive for a copy of Oliver Twist, or order a copy of Sylvia Plath's poems. Read my full rave here.
Bernard MacLaverty's Cal - 150 pages that are as densely packed with passion and tension as any I've read in Dostoyevsky or Hardy. The 19-year-old title character lives in Northern Ireland. A Roman Catholic, he is hounded and physically attacked by the Protestant Orangemen. His friends have joined the IRA in response to the violence with which they are threatened. Cal finds the violence too much for him. The struggles of nations would not be important if they didn't effect the lives of individual people. This book is about the converging of conflicts political and personal - the political and religious struggles of an oppressed people, a first great passionate love, and the dilemmas of a sensitive and thoughtful teenager as he makes the moral choices that are going to shape his whole life. I felt deeply the greatness of these struggles as I read. Read my full rave here.
This book has everything - love, suspense, moral conflict, social criticism, psychological acuity, and crack writing. It is pitch-perfect on the a fast-paced, ostentatious, brutal beauty of Rome. Lambert's writing is rich with observations both interior and exterior that imbue character and place with clarity and instantaneous complexity. This novel, though entertaining to read, is an unambiguous critique of the moral hypocrisy that infects the powerful and the nature of crime which combines an abuse of power with the dehumanization of innocent people. Read my full rave here.
Molly Fox is a celebrated actress - a woman who delves deep into what makes up a 'self.' It is her profession to create characters from that knowledge through the medium of her self. Yet, when it comes to letting others truly know her, she does not. 'Can we ever know another?', this novel asks. The Irish novelist Deirdre Madden fashions a deep and beautiful book on this potentially abstract musing that is redolent with the pain of the distance we have from all others - even those we love most - and simultaneously rich with the rewards of the communion we can make through long acquaintance. She is particularly good at using the processes of the actor and writer to reflect on the ways we can inhabit the inherent contradiction of knowing another, but the mechanisms are so integrated with the events of this narrative that it is difficult to reveal them without ruining your reading of this book. This book is a powerful work of art with an undisturbable sense of wholeness. Read my full rave here.
The struggle to keep the champagne bubbling when it's gone flat is the action filling Evelyn Waugh's 1930 satire Vile Bodies. Stephen Fry's brilliant film adaptation, Bright Young Things released in 2003 captures the feel of a breathless, manic party. Jim Broadbent, Stockard Channing, Peter O'Toole, Simon Callow, Stephen Campbell Moore, Emily Mortimer, James Mcavoy, Imelda Stuanton, and Fenella Woolgar are some of the beautifully cast actors who maintain an understated hysteria, if you can imagine understated hysteria. The love that director and cast have for these characters is what impresses me the most. It would be so easy to show us how vile these people are - how silly, how louche, how fey - but instead they love them to death. Raveworthy. Read my full rave here.
Tell Me Everything by Sarah Salway . I opened this book last night and didn't stop reading it until I had finished it. The nearest voice I can think to compare Sarah Salway's to is Lorrie Moore's, and coming from me that is a big compliment. In it Molly experiences a few breaches of trust as a young woman that leave her seriously wounded. She closes down and protects herself by eating. When we meet her she has become one of life's castaways, seriously overweight without a job, a home, or any sense of herself. She meets five people - Mr. Roberts who gives her a job, Mrs. Roberts, Tim - a man of mystery, Liz - a librarian who recommends French authors, and Miranda, a hairdresser. With these relationships she begins to reclaim herself. The story is full of perfectly wrought descriptions, complex observations of human pain and fantasy, and cogent storytelling. Read my full rave here.
Literature good and bad, theater,and neuroscience....no really.
About Me
- Ted
- Bookeywookey is the blog of Ted Altschuler who directs Baruch Performing Arts Center. His NY life encompasses creating interdisciplinary programming, directing theatre & opera, coaching acting, neuroscience, music, reading, and compulsive book acquiring by any means necessary. email: bookeywookey@gmail.com
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I do the writing here. I do not endorse products, services, post advertising, accept comments with commercial links, or invite guest posts. I'm happy to accept review copies but will say exactly what I think. Anything I write about books, acting, neuroscience, or my other fascinations reflects my thoughts on the matter, not that of any institution I work for, and is certainly not meant as advice.
Current Reading
POETRY SERIES - An Inflorscence
In-flo-res-cence - from the Latin inflorescere - to begin to blossom. 1. the producing of blossoms; flowering; 2. the arrangement of flowers on a stem or axis; 3. a flower cluster on a common axis; 4. flowers collectively; 5. a solitary flower, regarded as a reduced cluster.
Posts on poets and their poems.
Rachel Wetzsteon
Still more Frank O'Hara
Charles Baudelaire
Hart Crane
John Donne
Mark Doty
Wallace Stevens
Gerard Manley Hopkins
More Frank O'Hara, more!
James Schuyler
Robert Hass
Michael Ryan
Timothy Donnelly
H. D.
Dan Chiasson 1 2
Wislawa Szymborska 2
Emily Dickinson
Charles Simic
Hayden Carruth
Matthew Arnold
Dylan Thomas
Mary Oliver
Marianne Moore
Ciaran O'Driscoll 2 3
William Carlos Williams redux
William Carlos Williams
Frank O'Hara
Frank O'Hara redux
Tomas Transtromer 2
Sarah Salway
Posts on poets and their poems.
Rachel Wetzsteon
Still more Frank O'Hara
Charles Baudelaire
Hart Crane
John Donne
Mark Doty
Wallace Stevens
Gerard Manley Hopkins
More Frank O'Hara, more!
James Schuyler
Robert Hass
Michael Ryan
Timothy Donnelly
H. D.
Dan Chiasson 1 2
Wislawa Szymborska 2
Emily Dickinson
Charles Simic
Hayden Carruth
Matthew Arnold
Dylan Thomas
Mary Oliver
Marianne Moore
Ciaran O'Driscoll 2 3
William Carlos Williams redux
William Carlos Williams
Frank O'Hara
Frank O'Hara redux
Tomas Transtromer 2
Sarah Salway
RAVES
Bernard MacLaverty's Cal - 150 pages that are as densely packed with passion and tension as any I've read in Dostoyevsky or Hardy. The 19-year-old title character lives in Northern Ireland. A Roman Catholic, he is hounded and physically attacked by the Protestant Orangemen. His friends have joined the IRA in response to the violence with which they are threatened. Cal finds the violence too much for him. The struggles of nations would not be important if they didn't effect the lives of individual people. This book is about the converging of conflicts political and personal - the political and religious struggles of an oppressed people, a first great passionate love, and the dilemmas of a sensitive and thoughtful teenager as he makes the moral choices that are going to shape his whole life. I felt deeply the greatness of these struggles as I read. Read my full rave here.
This book has everything - love, suspense, moral conflict, social criticism, psychological acuity, and crack writing. It is pitch-perfect on the a fast-paced, ostentatious, brutal beauty of Rome. Lambert's writing is rich with observations both interior and exterior that imbue character and place with clarity and instantaneous complexity. This novel, though entertaining to read, is an unambiguous critique of the moral hypocrisy that infects the powerful and the nature of crime which combines an abuse of power with the dehumanization of innocent people. Read my full rave here.
Molly Fox is a celebrated actress - a woman who delves deep into what makes up a 'self.' It is her profession to create characters from that knowledge through the medium of her self. Yet, when it comes to letting others truly know her, she does not. 'Can we ever know another?', this novel asks. The Irish novelist Deirdre Madden fashions a deep and beautiful book on this potentially abstract musing that is redolent with the pain of the distance we have from all others - even those we love most - and simultaneously rich with the rewards of the communion we can make through long acquaintance. She is particularly good at using the processes of the actor and writer to reflect on the ways we can inhabit the inherent contradiction of knowing another, but the mechanisms are so integrated with the events of this narrative that it is difficult to reveal them without ruining your reading of this book. This book is a powerful work of art with an undisturbable sense of wholeness. Read my full rave here.
The struggle to keep the champagne bubbling when it's gone flat is the action filling Evelyn Waugh's 1930 satire Vile Bodies. Stephen Fry's brilliant film adaptation, Bright Young Things released in 2003 captures the feel of a breathless, manic party. Jim Broadbent, Stockard Channing, Peter O'Toole, Simon Callow, Stephen Campbell Moore, Emily Mortimer, James Mcavoy, Imelda Stuanton, and Fenella Woolgar are some of the beautifully cast actors who maintain an understated hysteria, if you can imagine understated hysteria. The love that director and cast have for these characters is what impresses me the most. It would be so easy to show us how vile these people are - how silly, how louche, how fey - but instead they love them to death. Raveworthy. Read my full rave here.Tell Me Everything by Sarah Salway . I opened this book last night and didn't stop reading it until I had finished it. The nearest voice I can think to compare Sarah Salway's to is Lorrie Moore's, and coming from me that is a big compliment. In it Molly experiences a few breaches of trust as a young woman that leave her seriously wounded. She closes down and protects herself by eating. When we meet her she has become one of life's castaways, seriously overweight without a job, a home, or any sense of herself. She meets five people - Mr. Roberts who gives her a job, Mrs. Roberts, Tim - a man of mystery, Liz - a librarian who recommends French authors, and Miranda, a hairdresser. With these relationships she begins to reclaim herself. The story is full of perfectly wrought descriptions, complex observations of human pain and fantasy, and cogent storytelling. Read my full rave here.Read in '25
- 1. All the Colors of the Dark - Whitaker
- 2. The Work of Art - Moss
- 3. The Art of Stillness - Iyer
- 4. Playground - Powers
- 5. Time's Echo - Eichler
- 6. Goethe: His Faustian Life - Wilson
- 7. The Spinning Heart - Ryan
- 8. Heart, Be At Peace - Ryan
- 9. A Piece of Work - Beale
- 10. Pure - Miller
- 11. The Granddaughter - Schlink
- 12. Transit - Seghers
- 13. Old Soul - Barker
- 14. The Proof of my Innocence - Coe
- 15. The Man Within My Head - Iyer
- 16. Lion - Walger
- 17. Tales from Hollywood - Hampton
- 18. End Times - Turchin
- 19. To the Lighthouse - Woolf
- 20. Theory & Practice - de Kretser
- 21. Hagstone - Gleeson
- 22. The Prisoner of Ankara - Dervis
- 23. Theft - Gurnah
- 24. In a Deep Blue Hour - Stamm
- 25. Nova Scotia House - Porter
- 26. Anatomy of a Disappearance - Matar
- 27. Family & Borghesia - Ginsburg
- 28. Question 7 - Flanagan
- 29. The Rest of Our Lives - Markovits
- 30. Open, Heaven - Hewitt
- 31. Stone Yard Devotional - Wood
- 32. Blast - Deya
- 33. Let the Record Show - Schulman
- 34. Playworld - Ross
- 35. The Transit of Venus - Hazzard
- 36. The Book of Records - Thien
- 37. The Coast Road - Murrin
- 38. Crusoe's Daughter - Gardam
- 39. The Lesser Bohemians - McBride
- 40. Some Strange Music Draws Me In - Hansbury
- 41. This House of Grief - Garner
- 42. The Director - Kehlmann
- 43. The Sun and Her Stars - Rifkind
- 44. Prater Violet - Isherwood
- 45. The Hounding - Purvis
- 46. The Benefactors - Erskine
- 47. Hamlet Globe to Globe - Dromgoole
- 48. The Cosmopolitans - Schulman
- 49. The True True Story of Raja the Gullible - Alameddine
- 50. The South - Aw
- 51. Brother of the More Famous Jack - Trapido
- 52. Katabasis - Kuang
- 53. The Emperor of Gladness - Vuong
- 54. The Book of Guilt - Chidgey
- 55. What We Can Know - McEwan
- 56. Pan - Clune
Read in '24
- 1. The Island of Extraordinary Captives - Parkin
- 2. Prophet Song - Lynch
- 3. Legends & Lattes - Baldree
- 4. Into The Dream - Sleator
- 5. A Restless Truth - Marske
- 6. The House of Doors - Tan
- 7. Echo House - Just
- 8. Molly Fox's Birthday - Madden
- 9. My Friends - Matar
- 10. The Bee Sting - Murray
- 11. An Unfinished Season - Just
- 12. Tell - Buckley
- 13. The Variations - Langley
- 14. Shakespeare - The Man Who Pays The Rent - Dench
- 15. The Most Secret Memory of Men - Sarr
- 16. Table for Two - Towles
- 17. Caledonian Road - O'Hagan
- 18. Cymbeline - Shakespeare
- 19. The Alternatives - Hughes
- 20. Germany 1923 - Ullrich
- 21. A Dangerous Friend - Just
- 22. The Safekeep - van der Wouden
- 23. Beyond the Wall - Hoyer
- 24. Long Island - Toibin
- 25. Inverno - Zarin
- 26. The Mission House - Daview
- 27. The Ministry of Time - Bradley
- 28. Waiting for Sunrise - Boyd
- 29. This Strange Eventful History - Messud
- 30. How Can I Help You - Sims
- 31. There There - Orange
- 32. The Playbook - Shapiro
- 33. Cocktails with George and Martha - Gefter
- 34. The Ghost Theatre - Osman
- 35. Enter Ghost - Hammad
- 36. Kairos - Erpenbeck
- 37. Wife - Mendelson
- 38. Glorious Exploits - Lennon
- 39. The Book Censor's Library - Al-Essa
- 40. The Inextinguishable Symphony - Goldsmith
- 41. Shadowplay - O'Connor
- 42. Nothing Ever Just Disappears - Hester
- 43. Tasmania - Giordano
- 44. Our Evenings - Hollinghurst
- 45. Intermezzo - Rooney
- 46. Creation Lake - Kushner
- 47. We Are On Our Own - Katin
- 48. Oxygen - Miller
- 49. Brotherless Night - Ganeshananthan
- 50. The Deep Sky - Kitasei
- 51. The Great When - Moore
- 52. Eternity - Plante
- 53. What Nails It - Marcus
Read in '23
- 1. Also A Poet - Calhoun
- 2. The Romantic - Boyd
- 3. Tomorrow,and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Zevin
- 4. Babel - Kuang
- 5. Arthur Miller - Lahr
- 6. A Sense of Direction - Lewis-Kraus
- 7. The Windelby Puzzle - Lowry
- 8. Ghost Music - An
- 9. This Other Eden - Harding
- 10. I Have Some Questions for You - Makkai
- 11. In Memoriam - Winn
- 12. We Don't Know Ourselves - O'Toole
- 13. Decent People - Winslow
- 14. The New Life - Crewe
- 15. Blaze Me A Sun - Carlsson
- 16. The Whalebone Theatre - Quinn
- 17. Long Live the Post Horn! - Hjorth
- 18. Sea of Tranquility - Mandel
- 19. Old God's Time - Barry
- 20. The Covenant of Water - Verghese
- 21. The Ferryman - Cronin
- 22. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Schwab
- 23. Ink Blood Sister Scribe - Torzs
- 24. Real Life - Taylor
- 25. Loot - James
- 26. The Late Americans - Taylor
- 27. Pollak's Arm - von Trotha
- 28. Only This Beautiful Moment - Nazemian
- 29. Small Things Like These - Keegan
- 30. Home in the World - Sen
- 31. Dinosaurs - Millet
- 32. Take What You Need - Novey
- 33. Shadow Play - Baxter
- 34. The English Actor - Ackroyd
- 35. The Solitude of Prime Numbers - Giordano
- 36. The Librarianist - DeWitt
- 37. The Method - Butler
- 38. Kala - Walsh
- 39. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - McBride
- 40. The Fraud - Smith
- 41. Waterline - Raisin
- 42. Retrospective - Vasquez
- 43. Terrace Story - Leichter
- 44. The Wren, the Wren - Enright
- 45. Martha Quest - Lessing
- 46. February 1933: The Winter of Literature - Wittstock
- 47. Case Histories - Atkinson
- 48. A Place Called Winter - Gale
- 49. Sweet Dreams - Frayn
- 50. A Strange Eventful History - Holroyd
- 51. To Love and Be Wise - Tey
Read in '22
- 1. Any Way the Wind Blows - Rowell
- 2. Angels of Mud - Nicolson
- 3. The Days of Afrekete - Solomon
- 4. Year of the King - Sher
- 5. Year of the Fat Knight - Sher
- 6. Munich 1919: Diary of a Revolution - Klemperer
- 7. Will She Do? - Atkins
- 8. All The Names Given - Antrobus
- 9. Piranesi - Clarke
- 10. Monkey Boy - Goldman
- 11. Crossing to Safety - Stegner
- 12. To the Lighthouse - Woolf
- 13. The Cutting Room - Welsh
- 14. Vladimir - Jonas
- 15. Sondheim on Music - Horowitz
- 16. Barracuda - Tsiolkas
- 17. Putting it Together - Lapine
- 18. The Latinist - Prins
- 19. The Magan Inheritance - Moore
- 20. Kathe Kollwitz: Woman and Artist - Kearns
- 21. More than I Love my Life - Grossman
- 22. Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller - Wassef
- 23. The Emperor of Ice-Cream - Moore
- 24. The Fifties - Gaines
- 25. Death in Rome - Koeppen
- 26. School Days - Galassi
- 27. Every Good Boy Does Fine - Denk
- 28. Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts - Perl
- 29. Afterlives - Gurnah
- 30. The Crow Trap - Cleeves
- 31. A Field Guide to Getting Lost - Solnit
- 32. The Sisters Mao - McCrea
- 33. Young Mungo - Stuart
- 34. Olive Kitteridge - Strout
- 35. The Wrong End of the Telescope - Alameddine
- 36. What Makes an Apple? - Oz/Hadad
- 37. When We Cease to Understand the World - Labatut
- 38. Last Train to London - Clayton
- 39. A Tale of Love and Darkness - Oz
- 40. Secret City - Kirchick
- 41. Another Country - Baldwin
- 42. Letters to Camondo - De Waal
- 43. Other Names for Love - Soomro
- 44. Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers - Rodgers/Green
- 45. The Revenge of Power - Naim
- 46. Mercury Pictures Presents - Marra
- 47. All Our Yesterdays - Ginzburg
- 48. Fairy Tale - King
- 49. Sojourn - Chaudhuri
- 50. Train Dreams - Johnson
- 51. The Marriage Portrait - O'Farrell
- 52. Tell Me How Long The Train's Been Gone - Baldwin
- 53. A Murder is Announced - Christie
- 54. Affections - Hasbun
- 55. Cassandra at the Wedding - Baker
- 56. Cairo 1921 - Faught
- 57. Light Perpetual - Spufford
- 58. The Lincoln Highway - Towles
- 59. The Slowworm's Song - Miller
- 60. The Untouchable - Banville
- 61. Mother's Boy - Gale
- 62. The Sinner and the Saint - Birmingham
- 63. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - Zevin
Read in '21
- 1. The Sun Collective - Baxter
- 10. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - Taylor
- 11. Daemon Voices - Pullman
- 12. On Writing - King
- 13. Notes from an Exhibition - Gale
- 14. The Lies That Bind - Appiah
- 15. Coraline - Gaiman
- 16. Cymbeline - Shakespeare
- 17. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Rowling
- 18. The Dead Zone - King
- 19. Cat's Eye - Atwood
- 2. Krapp's Last Tape - Beckett
- 20. In the Absence of Men - Besson
- 21. It's Really About Time - Ryan
- 22. Take Nothing With You - Gale
- 23. Together and by Ourselves - Dimitrov
- 24. The Vietri Project - DeRobertis-Theye
- 25. Tom Stoppard: A Life - Lee
- 26. Ink and Bone - Caine
- 27. The Invention of Love - Stoppard
- 28. The Heart - de Kerangal
- 29. Forgone - Banks
- 3. Learning from the Germans - Neiman
- 30. The Ghost Writer - Roth
- 31. Painting Time - de Kerangal
- 32. The Kingdoms - Pulley
- 33. Rock 'N' Roll - Stoppard
- 34. Rules of Civility - Towles
- 35. Eat the Buddha - Demick
- 36. Leopoldstadt - Stoppard
- 37. Hamnet - O'Farrell
- 38. We Have Been Harmonized - Strittmatter
- 39. The Hare with Amber Eyes - de Waal
- 4. The Gene - Mukherjee
- 40. The Crow Road - Banks
- 41. The Promise - Galgut
- 42. Love and Other Poems - Dimitrov
- 43. I Couldn't Love You More - Freud
- 44. The Quarry - Galgut
- 45. Hades, Argentia - Loedel
- 46. The White Road - de Waal
- 47. The Year of Lear - Shapiro
- 48. Four Thousand Weeks - Burkeman
- 49. The War of the Poor - Vuillard
- 5. Mayflies - O'Hagan
- 50. The Perseverance - Antrobus
- 51. Harlem Shuffle - Whitehead
- 52. Bewilderment - Powers
- 53. A Gentleman in Moscow - Towles
- 54. The Magician - Toibin
- 55. A House for Mr. Biswas - Naipaul
- 56. The Weight of Ink - Kadish
- 57. Prodigal - Lambert
- 58. Bulletproof Vest - Rosen
- 59. The Weak Spot - Elven
- 6. The Lisbon Traviata - McNally
- 60. Elder Race - Tchaikovsky
- 61. Macbeth - Shakespeare
- 62. A Marvelous Light - Marske
- 63. Beside Myself - Sher
- 64. Carry On - Rowell
- 65. Wayward Son - Rowell
- 7. Love! Valour! Compassion! - McNally
- 8. Here We Are - Swift
- 9. Rough Music - Gale
Read in '20
- 64. Never Home Alone - Dunn
- 63. Man Without a Face - Wolf
- 62. The Math Campers - Chiasson
- 61. Fences - Wilson
- 60. Faithful and Virtuous Night - Gluck
- 59. The Hollow Hills - Stewart
- 58. Our Fathers - O'Hagan
- 57. The Illuminations - O'Hagan
- 56. Snow - Banville
- 55. Three Rings - Mendelsohn
- 54. Wanderer - Leon
- 53. The Searcher - French
- 52. November 1918 - Gerwarth
- 51. The Tunnel - Yehoshua
- 50. Cymbeline - Shakespeare
- 49. Must I Go - Li
- 48. The Lying Life of Adults - Ferrante
- 47. Wit - Edson
- 46. The Great Concert of the Night - Buckley
- 45. King Lear - Shakespeare
- 44. The Cherry Orchard - Chekhov
- 43. Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf - Albee
- 42. The Fire Next Time - Baldwin
- 41. The World According to Fannie Davis -- Davis
- 40. The Shawl - Mamet
- 39. Six Degrees of Separation - Guare
- 38. The Visit - Durrenmatt
- 37. Lot Six - Adjimi
- 36. I'm Not Scared - Ammaniti
- 35. Auto Da Fay - Weldon
- 34. Heaven and Earth - Giordano
- 33. The Death of Democracy - Hett
- 32. Fair Play - Jansson
- 31. Blue Nights - Didion
- 30. The Secret Commonwealth - Pullman
- 29. The Book of Eels - Svensson
- 28. A Burning - Majumdar
- 27. The Gypsies - Yoors
- 26. The Gray Notebook - Pla
- 25. Entangled Life - Sheldrake
- 24. Surviving Autocracy - Gessen
- 23. A Month in the Country - Carr
- 22. St. Ivo - Hershon
- 21. Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography - Robinson
- 20. Child Wonder - Jacobsen
- 19. Swimming in the Dark - Jedrowski
- 18. Lucky Jim - Amis
- 17. Do Not Say We Have Nothing - Thien
- 16. A Small Revolution in Germany - Hensher
- 15. Actress - Enright
- 14. Unpacking My Library - Price
- 13. Winter - Smith
- 12. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line - Anappara
- 11. The House of Twenty Thousand Books - Abramsky
- 10. Nine Continents - Guo
- 9. The Volunteer - Fairweather
- 8. Out With the Stars - Purdy
- 7. Abigail - Szabo
- 6. Stillicide - Jones
- 5. Pigeons on the Grass - Koeppen
- 4. The Memory Police - Ogawa
- 3. Out East - Glynn
- 2. The River Capture - Costello
- 1. Cove - Jones
Seen in '20
- 49. Mudbound (2017) - film
- 48. Wildlife (2018) - film
- 47. Vagabond (1985) - film
- 46. War Horse (2011) - film
- 45. Wonderstruck (2017) - film
- 44. The 400 Blows (1959) - film
- 43. 1917 (2019) - film
- 42. The Thin Man (1934) - film
- 41. Remember the Night (1940) - film
- 40. Transit (2019) - film
- 39. A Nos Amours (1983) - film
- 38. Dial M for Murder (1954) - film
- 37. Wonder Woman (2017) - film
- 36. The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013) - film
- 35. The Booksellers (2019) - film
- 34. Mrs. Polifax Spy (1971) - film
- 33. What She Said (2018)- film
- 32. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - film
- 31. Rear Window (1954) - film
- 30. Maurice (1987) - film
- 29. Goldfinger (1964) - film
- 28. From Russia with Love (1963) - film
- 27. Dr. No (1962) - film
- 26. And Then We Danced (2019) - film
- 25. Sneakers (1992) - film
- 24. Little Women (2019) - film
- 23. Code Unknown (2000) - film
- 22. Jonas (2018) - film
- 21. Moonstruck (1987) - film
- 20. Roman Holiday (1953) - film
- 19. The Shape of Water (2017) - film
- 18. Parasite (2019) - film
- 17. La nouvelle guerre des boutons (2012) - film
- 16. The City of Your Final Destination (2009) - film
- 15. Agrippina - Met Opera
- 14. Frankenstein - The Wallis LA
- 13. Eurydice - LA Opera
- 12. The Getty Villa
- 11. The Irishman (2019) - film
- 10. Timon of Athens - TFANA
- 9. Mac Beth - Hunter Theater Project
- 8. She Was Alone - La Mama Galleria
- 7. Medea - BAM
- 6. Wozzeck - Met Opera
- 5. Everybody Knows (2018) - film
- 4. Coup de Torchon (1981) - film
- 3. Offset Dance Fest - Saudade - Joshua Beamish
- 2. Marriage Story (2019) - film
- 1. Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 - Tenet Vocal Artists
Read in '19
- 56. The South - Toibin
- 55. Academy Street - Costello
- 54. Jurrassic Park - Chrichton
- 53. The Crystal Cave - Stewart
- 52. The Topeka School- Lerner
- 51. Impossible Owls - Phillips
- 50. The Friend - Nunez
- 49. History of Violence - Louis
- 48. Who Killed My Father - Louis
- 47. Hesse: The Wanderer and His Shadow - Decker
- 45. Mitz - Nunez
- 46. Sontag: Her Life and Work - Moser
- 44. The Parisian - Hammad
- 43. Ruined - Nottage
- 42. Pipeline - Morisseau
- 41. Say Nothing - Keefe
- 40. The Body in Question - Ciment
- 39. The Good Apprentice - Murdoch
- 38. The Green Knight - Murdoch
- 37. Living at the Boundary - Perls
- 36. The Eumenides - Aeschylus
- 35. Choephori - Aeschylus
- 34. Agamemnon - Aeschylus
- 33. The Arabian Nights - Zimmerman
- 32. Iris Murdoch: A Life - Conradi
- 31. Latecomers - Brookner
- 30. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Vuong
- 29. The Incorrigile Optimists Club - Guenassia
- 28. Normal People - Rooney
- 27. Late in the Day - Hadley
- 26. Lie With Me - Besson
- 25. The Message to The Planet - Murdoch
- 24. The Flick - Baker
- 23. John - Baker
- 22. The Philosopher's Pupil - Murdoch
- 21. Giovanni's Room - Baldwin
- 20. Music of a Life - Makine
- 19. Desperate Characters - Fox
- 18. Shape of the Ruins - Gabriel Vasquez
- 17. Terra Firma - Hammond
- 16. Katalin Street - Szabo
- 15. Finer Noble Gases - Rapp
- 14. Sweat - Nottage
- 13. The Inheritance - Lopez
- 12. Elmet - Mozley
- 11. The Argonauts - Nelson
- 10. Howards End - Forster
- 9. Stoner - Williams
- 8. Middletown - Eno
- 7. Eurydice - Ruhl
- 6. Friend of my Youth - Chaudhuri
- 5. The Women - Als
- 4. Milkman - Burns
- 3. Friday Black - Adjei-Brenyah
- 2. Transcription - Atkinson
- 1. Paris Echo - Faulks
Seen in '19
- 85. Late Night (2019) - film
- 84. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - film
- 83. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
- 82. The Underlying Chris - 2nd Stage
- 81. Slave Play - B'way
- 80. Synonyms (2019) - film
- 79. I Lost My Body (2019) - film
- 78. Le Bonheur (1965) - film
- 77. 63-Up (2019) - film
- 76. The Inheritance - B'way
- 75. History of Violence - Schaubuhne Berlin @ St. Ann's
- 74. Akhnaten - Met Opera
- 73. The End of Eddy - Unicorn Theatre @ BAM
- 72. The Great Tamer - BAM
- 71. The Brotherhood of new Blockheads - Mishkin Gallery
- 70. A Bright Room Called Day - Public Theater
- 69. What if they went to Moscow? - BAM
- 68. The Yellow Wallpaper - IRT Theatre
- 67. L'une chante l'autre pas (1977) - film
- 66. The Sound Inside - Bway
- 65. A Monster Calls (2016) -film
- 64. Looking At You - HERE Arts Ctr
- 63. The Post (2017) - film
- 62. Trois Couleurs - White (1994) - film
- 61. The Kindergarten Teacher (2018) - film
- 60. Sea Wall/A Life - B'way
- 59. Widows (2018) - film
- 58. Moscow, Moscow... - MCC Theater
- 57. Tea with the Dames (2018) film
- 56. A Strange Loop - Playwrights Horizons
- 55. A Star is Born (2018) - film
- 54. A Star is Born (1976) - film
- 53. A Star is Born (1954) - film
- 52. A Star is Born (1937) - film
- 51. Maggie's Plan (2015)- film
- 50. In Corpo - The Assembly
- 49. Misconceptions - Blessed Unrest
- 48. Dark Heart of Meterology - The Assembly
- 47. Joan Mitchell - I carry my landscapes around with me - David Zwirner Gallery
- 46. Crossroads - Amanda Selwyn Dance
- 45. Underground Railroad Game - Ars Nova
- 44. Dead Dog in a Suitcase - Kneehigh Theatre - Lyric Hammersmith
- 43. Cendrillon - Glyndebourne
- 42. Man of La Mancha - English Nat'l Opera
- 41. London Biennale 2019
- 40. Kaleidascope - Saatchi Gallery
- 39. Smoke and Mirrors - Wellcome Centre
- 38. Happy Talk - New Group Theatre
- 37. Octet - Signature Theatre
- 36. Estado Vegetal - Baryshnikov Arts Center
- 35. I Am Not Your Negro (2016) - film
- 34. An Education (2009) - film
- 33. Toni Erdmann (2016) - film
- 32. The Fever - 600 Highwaymen
- 31. The Lehman Trilogy - Park Ave. Armory
- 30. Diane (2018) - film
- 29. The Young & Evil - David Zwirner
- 28. Vivan Browne: Little Men - Ryan Lee Gallery
- 27. Heal the Living (2016) - film
- 26. Great Directors (2009) - film
- 25. Her Story...His Shadow - Kraine Theatre
- 24. Howards End (1992) - film
- 23. Ashes - HERE Arts Center
- 22. Pedagogy of the Streets: Porto 1977 Mishkin Gallery
- 21. Julieta (2016) - film
- 20. Joan Miro - Birth of the World - MOMA
- 19. East of Eden (1955) - film
- 18. Andy Warhol - From A to B - Whitney Museum
- 17. Plaire, aimer et courir vite (2018) - film
- 16. Merrily We Roll Along - Roundabout Theatre
- 15. Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) - film
- 14. To Create a World - Gallim Dance
- 13. Thoroughly Modern Millie - Little Theatre
- 12. Cold War (2018) - film
- 11. Prisoners (2013) - film
- 10. God Made my Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin - David Zwirner
- 9. Judson Dance Theater - MOMA
- 8. For Opacity - The Drawing Center
- 7. Mistress America (2015) - film
- 6. Beautiful Boy (2018) - film
- 5. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - film
- 4. The Aesthetics of Learning - Mishkin Gallery
- 3. Train with no Midnight - PROTOTYPE
- 2. 4:48 Psychosis - PROTOTYPE
- 1. Otello - Met Opera
Read in '18
- 52. The Sum of Things - Manning
- 51. The Battle Lost and Won - Manning
- 50. The Danger Tree - Manning
- 49. Cry it Out - Metzler
- 48. Half of a Yellow Sun - Adichie
- 47. The Shining - King
- 46. The Fledgling - Butler
- 45. Melmoth - Perry
- 44. The Haunting of Hill House - Jackson
- 43. Red Light Winter - Rapp
- 42. Nocturne - Rapp
- 41. The Biological Mind - Jasanoff
- 40. The Witch Elm - French
- 39. Washington Black - Edugyan
- 38. Another Life - Kallifatides
- 37. The End of Eddy - Louis
- 35. The Color of Law - Rothstein
- 34. A Fatal Grace - Penny
- 33. Ants Among Elephants - Gidla
- 32. Bellevue Square - Redhill
- 31. The Great Believers - Makkai
- 30. The Shepherd's Hut - Winton
- 29. School of Velocity - Rubin
- 28. The Water Will Come - Goodell
- 27. Returing to Reims - Eribon
- 26. The Heather Blazing - Toibin
- 25. The Blackwater Lightship - Toibin
- 24. Still Life - Penny
- 23. Roert Lowell: Setting the River on Fire - Jamison
- 22. Wilberforce - Cross
- 21. The South - Toibin
- 20. A Mind to Murder - James
- 19. Magpie Murders - Horowitz
- 18. Underground Fugue - Singer
- 17. The Overstory - Powers
- 16. The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears - Mengestu
- 15. The Changeling - Lavalle
- 14. The Diamond Setter - Sakal
- 13. American Pastoral - Roth
- 12. Aunt Dan and Lemon - Shawn
- 11. Asymmetry - Halliday
- 10. The Sparsholt Affair - Hollinghurst
- 9. The River of Consciousness - Sacks
- 8. Keeping on Keeping On - Bennett
- 7. The Cherry Orchard - Chekhov
- 6. The Odyssey - Homer (trans Wilson)
- 5. An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic - Mendelsohn
- 4. Becoming Myself - Yalom
- 3. The Dark Flood Rises - Drabble
- 2. Sergio Y. - Vidal Porto
- 1. Quick and Nimble - Bryant
Seen in '18
- 83. Dunkirk (2017) - film
- 82. Roma (2018) - film
- 81. The Favourite (2018) - film
- 80. Clueless - The New Group
- 79. Messiah - Trinity Choir
- 78. Wild Goose Dreams - Public Theater
- 77. Cinevardaphoto (2004) - film
- 76. Il Trittico - Met Opera
- 75. La Pointe Courte (1954) - film
- 74. The Waverly Gallery - Bway
- 73. Alex Truelove (2018) - film
- 72. Mefistofele - Met Opera
- 71. Julius Caesar - National Theatre
- 70. The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) - film
- 69. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) - film
- 68. Uncle Vanya - Hunter Theater Project
- 67. Anna (2014) - film
- 66. Little Men (2016) - film
- 65. Marnie - Met Opera
- 64. The Tenant - Joyce Theatre
- 63. The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) - film
- 62. Oklahoma! - St Ann's Warehouse
- 61. La Fanciulla del West - Met Opera
- 60. Things to Come (2016) - film
- 59. The Dybbuk - Gesher Theatre
- 58. Trio Solisti - Weill Recital Hall
- 57. Visages Villages (2017) - film
- 56. Radio Galaxy
- 55. Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay - Whitney Museum
- 54. David Wojnarawicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night - Whitney Museum
- 53. The True - The New Group
- 52. Elle (2016) - film
- 51. Bernhardt/Hamlet - Roundabout Theatre
- 50. Black Panther (2018) film
- 49. When We Were Young (2014) film
- 48. La Douleur (2017) - film
- 47. God's Own Country (2017) film
- 46. The Damned - Park Ave Armory
- 45. La Boheme - Royal Opera House Covent Garden
- 44. Ernst Ludwig Kirschner - Stattsgalerie Stuttgart
- 43. An Octoroon - National Theatre London
- 42. Rijks Museum
- 41. All too Huma - Bacon, Freud and a century of Painting Life - Tate Britain
- 40. Aftermath - Art in the Wake of World War I - Tate Britain
- 39. The Wallace Collection
- 38. Somewhere in Between - Wellcome Collection
- 37. Love and Intrigue - Maly Theatre at BAM
- 36. This is Modern Art - Blessed Unrest
- 35. Demolition (2015) - film
- 34. My Fair Lady - Lincoln Ctr Theater
- 33. Peace for Mary Frances - New Group Theater
- 32. The New Museum
- 31. Genius (2016) - film
- 30. A Pink Chair - The Wooster Group
- 29. Grant Wood: American Gothic & Other Fables - Whitney Museum
- 28. Assembled Identity - HERE
- 27. Judas - Phoenix Theatre Ensemble
- 26. One of Us (2017) - film
- 25. Cendrillon - Met Opera
- 24. Light Shining in Buckinghamshire - NYTW
- 23. Trio Vitruvi - Weil Hall
- 22. Three Tall Women - Bway
- 21. Yerma - Park Ave Armory
- 20. The Lucky Ones - Ars Nova
- 19. Swiss Army Man (2016) - film
- 18. Perestroika - Bway
- 17. Todd Almond - Joe's Pub
- 16. Paul Taylor Dance
- 15. The Lobster (2015) - film
- 14. Pyramo e Thisbe - The Little Opera Co
- 13. Paul Taylor Dance
- 12. Good for Otto - The New Group
- 11. Platonov - Blessed Unrest
- 10. This is the Color Described by the Time - New Georges
- 9. Jerry Springer - The Opera - New Group Theater
- 8. The Desire|Divinity Project - Judson
- 7. Farinelli and the King - Bway
- 6. Sheila - The Associates
- 5. Penny Arcade - Longing Lasts Longer - Pangea
- 4. Fellow Travelers - Prototype Festival
- 3. This Beautiful Fantastic (2016) - film
- 2. Conte d'Hiver (1992) - film
- 1. Brooklyn Rider/Aaron Diehl Trio Concert - Steinway Hall
Favorite Books
- All Chekhov
- At Swim Two Boys
- Atonement
- CloudStreet
- Crime and Punishment
- Crossing to Safety
- Doctor Faustus
- Dombey & Son
- For Kings and Planets
- Franny and Zooey
- Hopeful Monsters
- Howard's End
- Molly Fox's Birthday
- most Iris Murdoch
- My Name is Asher Lev
- Narcissus and Goldmund
- On Beauty
- Raise High The Roofbeams Carpenter
- Shadow of a Man
- Tell Me Everything
- The Egypt Game
- The Glass Bead Game
- The Goldbug Variations
- The Great Gatsby
- The Road
- The Waves
- Waiting for the End of the World
Some Blogs to Enjoy
- A Bookish Way of Life
- A Work in Progress
- Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
- Asylum
- Book Chase
- Bookgirl's Nightstand
- Books & Chocolate
- Books, time, and silence
- Captive Reader
- Charles Lambert
- Cornflower
- Flowing Data
- Lit & Life
- Magnificent Octopus
- My Head is Full of Books
- New Century Reading
- Of Books & Bikes
- Pages Turned
- Readerbuzz
- Reading Matters
- Sarah Salway
- Shelf Love
- Skeptic
- Stuck in a Book
- The Hustle
- The Literary Amnesiac
- The Mookse and the Gripes
- The Sheila Variations
- Thornfield Hall
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5 comments:
It's just horrible and makes my stomach ache to see it. How do you answer your own question?
TJ
I so treasure books that even abandoning books rather that actively destroying them suggests the devaluation of knowledge. When my family emigrated to the US with only 10 crates allowed, many of them were filled with books. But I don't know under what specific circumstances that particular library was left. It could be a town near Chernobyl abandoned because of radioactive fallout or a village whose people were depleted by abject poverty - when I read about life in Russia, it cannot be easy.
Maybe used for firewood or something. But still - it is a horrible sight.
Ted, I may be wrong, but I've been told that the pictures are of an old "technical school" library of some sort and that all the books are out of date and useless. The school was supposedly shut down and abandoned, and has since been vandalized.
I don't know that any of this is true, however.
Sam - It would be interesting if that is the story. Can you remember where you had heard about it? A picture may be worth a thousand words, but context is everything in understanding the meaning of that picture!
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