66 replies to this topic

[Moonlily]

Thank you, carbro!

bart, it comes in particularly handy because in this edition, the expressions in local dialects or colloquial language are explained at the bottom of each page along with very specific vocabulary that is likely to be unknown to the reader. Therefore I do not need to stop the flow of reading when I don't understand a passage and also have an overview of words that I might need to incorporate into my own vocabulary in case they are frequently used. Thank you for letting me know about the movie, I hadn't heard of it before! I will probably check it out after I finish reading, even though I often get the feeling of going through a check list when I watch a movie that is based on a book when I watch it after reading first.

[sandik]

Helene, on 31 July 2012 - 09:05 AM, said:

I've been slowly, very slowly, reading Robert Caro's latest book on Lyndon Johnson, "The Passage to Power," ...

My sister has been reading this series, also very slowly, but has been frustrated with the sheer size of the books (she's a reader-in-bed, and like the Gottlieb "Reading Dance," they are awkward to hold up.  Her solution, with the older books, is to buy used copies and cut them down the spine into more manageable pieces.  I cringed at first, to see a book sliced up like that, but she's mending them when she's done.

[sandik]

After I heard of Paul Fussell's death, I thought I'd re-read some of his stuff, but when I went to get it out of the library, I would up dipping into Betty Fussell's work, which I had heard good things about, but had never read.  Just finished My Kitchen Wars and appreciated her point of view on the changing roles of women in 20th c American culture, which she looks at through her own experiences.

[LiLing]

For a perfect summer read I recommend Frank Langella's Dropped Names.  he knew such an amazing variety of people personally or professionally, and writes about them with great insight.  Even with those he describes negitively, he isn't mean spirited or judgmental.  He is a very observant actor studying humans in all their foibles.  I found it very entertaining.

[puppytreats]

sandik, on 04 August 2012 - 08:50 PM, said:

Helene, on 31 July 2012 - 09:05 AM, said:

I've been slowly, very slowly, reading Robert Caro's latest book on Lyndon Johnson, "The Passage to Power," ...

My sister has been reading this series, also very slowly, but has been frustrated with the sheer size of the books (she's a reader-in-bed, and like the Gottlieb "Reading Dance," they are awkward to hold up.  Her solution, with the older books, is to buy used copies and cut them down the spine into more manageable pieces.  I cringed at first, to see a book sliced up like that, but she's mending them when she's done.

My mother used to read gigantic nonfiction books and then give them to me. I rarely read them because I could not hold them in bed, or carry them on a train.  She kept her books, and everything else, in pristine condition.  All my books are bent, worn, and stained.  Thank you for making me think about her.

I am reading Gelsey Kirkland's book, having put Nancy Goldner's book aside for the moment.  I have learned so much about dance performance, artistry, dance history, and creativity from Gelsey's book, which is very well written.  Too bad all I heard about it before was that it was about "anorexia, drug use, and bad sex with Misha."

I am supplementing my reading with lessons by video, too. This weekend, in addition to reading Gelsey's book, I watched, "Bringing Balanchine Back", "The Dream", "Children of Theatre Street" and "Choreography by Balanchine." I am awed by Herman Cornejo and Wendy Whelan.

I also saw Bolshoi's old production of "R&J".  Are all of these productions so dark?

[dirac]

LiLing, on 05 August 2012 - 03:24 PM, said:

For a perfect summer read I recommend Frank Langella's Dropped Names.  he knew such an amazing variety of people personally or professionally, and writes about them with great insight.  Even with those he describes negitively, he isn't mean spirited or judgmental.  He is a very observant actor studying humans in all their foibles.  I found it very entertaining.

I've been meaning to pick up that one. It sounds like good summer reading. Admirably forthright title.

[Rosa]

I just finished Passion to Dance: the National Ballet of Canada by James Neufeld. (My only prior knowledge of the NBC before reading Neufeld's book consisted of the 1970s recording of Nureyev's Sleeping Beauty, Karen Kain and Frank Augustyn in the Footnotes TV series, and passing references in books of Erik Bruhn's Swan Lake which featured a female Rothbart.)  A very fascinating and informative read about the company and its history.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Just finished:
Richard Wright's "Black Boy-(American hunger)"
Rudolph Bing's "5000 nights at the Opera".

Just started:
Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

[dirac]

Kain and Augustyn have both written good autobiographies, Rosa.

How did you like Bing's book, cubanmiamiboy?

[Rosa]

dirac, on 02 September 2012 - 04:07 AM, said:

Kain and Augustyn have both written good autobiographies, Rosa.

I was not aware of that. Thanks a lot, dirac!

[cubanmiamiboy]

dirac, on 02 September 2012 - 04:07 AM, said:

How did you like Bing's book, cubanmiamiboy?

I enjoyed it a lot, dirac! Bing's stories are written in a very straightforward, seemingly honest account.  One senses that he was particularly inclined toward certain singers-(Milanov,Nilsson, Tebaldi),and others for which he wasn't -(most infamously, Sills).  Still, at many times during the lecture one bumps into his thoughts at recognizing mistakes made and poor choices.  One substantial part is dedicated to a very meticulous narration of the financial status of the MET during his tenure.  It looks to me as if he was repeatedly attacked on this matters and wanted to clarify the issue at once.  His chapter dedicated to Callas was interesting..no vitriol whatsoever...just a plain description of the issues he faced with the diva and the reasons behind her departure.   He was particularly biased toward artists-(singers and conductors)-whose names had been somehow involved with the Nazis.   At one point, in the beginning of his tenure, he even refused to invite Von Karajan to  work.

[Rosa]

*Murder Most Austen by Tracy Kiely
*Dancing from the Heart: A Memoir by Frank Augustyn
*The Runaway Dragon by Kate Coombs
*In the Company of Stars: The Paris Opera Ballet by Gerard Uferas
*Violins of Autumn by Amy McAuley
*The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
*The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf
*Karen Kain: Movement Never Lies by Baren Kain
*Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
*Monster by Walter Dean Myers

[dirac]

Thanks for the list, Rosa. Any particular likes or dislikes from your list?

I suppose it's probably time for a new "What are you reading?" thread, summer having long passed, alas....

[sandik]

I'll start a little something new...

[Rosa]

dirac, on 01 December 2012 - 10:48 PM, said:

Thanks for the list, Rosa. Any particular likes or dislikes from your list?

Good question!

Murder Most Austen was a total disappointment. I was really looking forward to it because it incorperated Northanger Abbey, one of my favorite novels by Austen, but how its use was disappointing, as well as the mysetry itself.

Both Ausgutyn's and Kain's books were very insightful. Flipped was a surprise, the first YA book I've read in a very long time that I truly, simply enjoyed