Igby

theparisreview: Today’s Tom Gauld cartoon.

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:25:45 +1000

theparisreview:

Today’s Tom Gauld cartoon.

hurryupmerlin: #I wasn’t gonna reblog this but then the horse...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:12:59 +1000

hurryupmerlin:

#I wasn’t gonna reblog this but then the horse had glasses

Guys. It’s a book mark that marks your spot in the book.

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:58:01 +1000

Guys.

It’s a book mark that marks your spot in the book.

serotonical: Looks like there is a word for it.

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:07:31 +1000

serotonical:

Looks like there is a word for it.

This is why I cry 20 times a day.

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:06:39 +1100

This is why I cry 20 times a day.

beatonna: tiny-librarian: I just found this series of books...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:31:21 +1100

beatonna:

tiny-librarian:

I just found this series of books about the wives of Henry VIII, and I have to say I ADORE the covers.

Henry gets progressively older in each one, which is fantastic since most show him as old fat Henry all the time.

The wives all look quite decently accurate too, and are based on portraits done of them. I like that they each have their successors lurking in the background of their covers, like a reminder that they’re not going to be Queen for very long.

I wish more books would do illustrations like this nowadays, instead of using portraits or stock photos.

haha Henry creeping around on these covers is the best.

Henry! You total perv.

vintageanchor: Sylvia Plath interviews the great novelist...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:57:48 +1100

vintageanchor:

Sylvia Plath interviews the great novelist Elizabeth Bowen for Mademoiselle magazine, Cambridge, MA, May 1953. Photograph: Black Star

housingworksbookstore: apcalvin: thepreppyyogini: A tub in a...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:56:09 +1100

housingworksbookstore:

apcalvin:

thepreppyyogini:

A tub in a library. What a fabulous idea.

This is all I’ve ever wanted. Although the humidity would ruin those poor books.

I want to go to there.

Books in 2012 I read a total of 59 books this year, up 21 from...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:05:00 +1100

Books in 2012

I read a total of 59 books this year, up 21 from 2011’s very dismal 38, and while 59 is not a personal best, I don’t feel like a colossal failure. I’m feeling a bit glum about my inability to parse even a 100 word review of each book I’ve read on Goodreads, however. So many books, so little time—when I come to the last word on the last page of a book I’m reading, I’m already thinking about what to read next. Can’t dwell. Go go go. More excellent books await. Hurry hurry hurry. I put up this picture of my spirit-dog Moxie not just because this particular Tumblr combines two loves, but also because it perfectly captures how I feel about trying to read ALL TEH BOOKS while keeping up with ALL TEH INTERNETS.

Of the 59 books I read, only 5 were published in 2012—May We Be Forgiven (A.M. Homes), Green Girl (Kate Zambreno), What Happened to Sophie Wilder (Christopher Beha), How Should A Person Be (Sheila Heti) and Losing Clementine (Ashley Ream). There were quite a few 2011 releases, and no doubt 2013 will be spend catching up on 2012 publications. Anyway, in no particular order, here are a few standouts:

New Favourite - Kornel Esti by Deszö Kosztolányi

The only book I rated 5 stars on Goodreads. I’m indebted to the Bookslut blog for bringing this to my attention.

Creepiest Book - Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

This disturbed me more than Gone Girl. Probably because I am a bit aichmophobic and I find Munchausen syndrome by proxy more fascinating than unreliable narrators.

Best Surprise Ending - Girl Reading by Katie Ward

I had an “Atonement” moment with this book, which really brought it to the next level for me.

Most Picaresque, also Most Confusing Title - The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

After reading Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian last year, it was nice to read an adventure-packed Western full of pathos that did not crush my soul into smithereens. I hope this gets made into a movie!

Best Quiet Book - The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

A young girl spends a summer on a Finnish island where she is supervised by her detached yet devoted grandmother. The literary equivalent to the perfect cup of tea—undramatic, comforting, necessary.

Best Memoir - The Foreskin’s Lament by Shalom Auslander

Poor guy.

Best YA - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

1990s nostalgia for the win. Runner-up—The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I thought I was going to flood my apartment with tears after reading TFIOS, but I was distracted by the over-stylized speech of the book’s precocious teenaged protagonists. Also, I think I really dislike dystopian YA lit—did not enjoy the Delirium and Divergent series at all.

The Bell Jar Award - Green Girl by Kate Zambreno

I’m being glib here, but fact is I’ll try to get people to read Green Girl by comparing it to The Bell Jar.

Most Likely To Win “Best Picture” - May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes

Starts off darkly but ends on a hopeful, positive note; entertaining, highly polished.

Also, I think I stepped into a bookstore only once this year—Powell’s City of Books in Portland, OR… back in March. O.o

"Sophie Labbé conceives the smell of Christian Grey as an ultra-niche shower gel. Aldehydes for the..."

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 07:29:18 +1100

“

Sophie Labbé conceives the smell of Christian Grey as an ultra-niche shower gel. Aldehydes for the bubbles, musks for the white linen shirt, jasmine, cumin and nutmeg for a subtle human touch. Karanal, which spans from “clean laundry” (it is used in detergents) to animalic (it is an ambergris note), gives the scent the slight abrasiveness of crisp linen. Oddly enough, this scent really is somewhat in shades of gray: though it has quite a powerful sillage, it doesn’t quite register as perfume but rather as a stealthy aura.

I carried the vial with me the next evening at the party of the French publishers of Fifty Shades, where of course it was greeted with squeals of glee. I’ve even had to promise a best-selling author – one of the stars of the French Elle – I’d get some made up for her. She was ready to buy it immediately! I’d wager even people who’d turn their noses up at the book could embrace this scent.

”

- A fragrance inspired by 50 Shades of Grey is a lot more sophisticated than the book itself, according to writer and perfume blogger Denyse Beaulieu.

"Your Indonesian characters are warm hearted and artistic, or they are thin, dangerous people with..."

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:46:00 +1100

“

Your Indonesian characters are warm hearted and artistic, or they are thin, dangerous people with black eyes. They must all inhale deeply from a clove cigarette after every line of dialogue. It is important to give them generic universal Muslim names. Achmad is an excellent choice but Muhammad is a bit too strong. If you must include a Balinese character make sure he/she is called Weigh-Anne.

Indonesians do not have Facebook accounts. They enjoy cockfights and have an intimate connection to the world of spirits.

Your book must contain white people if it is to appeal to readers. If the book is non-fiction the white person is you. If you are writing fiction, then the white person should be a decent but tormented aid worker. The book should also contain a white journalist. If you are writing non-fiction the journalist is probably you. If you are writing fiction he is an alcoholic with a good heart.

Even if your book is set in the 21st century your journalist should be based on a Graham Greene character. He works in a small office with a ceiling fan up a flight of cracked concrete steps in Glodok. He does not have a smart phone. His local assistant is an inscrutable communist. He files only one story a month and never writes about business or the economy. This is important.

Your book should also contain a fat, sleazy American who works for the CIA.

”

- How To Write About Indonesia by Tim Hannigan.

A few years ago, I read a book set in modern day Malaysia written in English by a modern day Malaysian. I did not like it at all—I thought it read like a book about Malaysia written by a white dude. There was an American CIA agent in it, of course.

McEwaning.

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:03:00 +1100

Me: Oh god, I bought Ian McEwan's latest while stoned on Ambien. I'm afraid to read it. Solar was awful.
Book-Crazy Friend: Solar was terrible. Sweet Tooth is much better.
Me: Like Atonement better or On Chesil Beach better?
BCF: It's nowhere near as good as those two. But maybe Saturday better.
Me: . . .

Alma Classsics has republished most of F. Scott...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:18:56 +1100

Alma Classsics has republished most of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most novels and a couple of short story collections with gorgeous new covers.

Seriously though, dear publishers, the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald are not the only novels worthy of beautiful design.

henryhollaway: It’s like I’m reading a real book.

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 07:55:36 +1100

henryhollaway:

It’s like I’m reading a real book.

While drugged.

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:03:00 +1100

I’ve done pretty strange things after taking Ambien—my partner swears that I once asked him if cancer was important because it’s so European—but I apparently rated a book on Goodreads last night. I am mildly distressed by this because I have not finished the book—rating gives me closure, and I have now robbed myself of this pleasure. I ought to try writing reviews the next time. In Zolpidem Veritas.

fishingboatproceeds: It is of course always dangerous to make...

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 04:55:59 +1000

fishingboatproceeds:

It is of course always dangerous to make conclusions about an author from her/his books.

But like a lot of readers, especially teen readers, I thought about the lives of authors all the time when I read their books.

I was a big fan of Bret Easton Ellis in high school, but I always suspected he was a jerk.

For better or worse, twitter has allowed us to know much more about the actual human beings who write books. It turns out that I was totally right about Bret Easton Ellis being a jerk!

Wallace’s work can be needy (but it is self-consciously needy). It can be conservative (but so what? In both structure and language, Wallace’s work was also more radical and disruptive than any contemporary novelist I’ve read. Certainly up there with Toni Morrison. The tension between the conservative ideas in a postmodern context is part of what makes Wallace’s work so important and interesting).

But I am really bothered by the accusation of pretension. I don’t really know why it annoys me so much. I guess Ellis’s central talent is as an irritant. I suspect he wouldn’t even mind my saying so, which is even more irritating. But anyway, in my opinion Wallace’s writing is radically unpretentious. Wallace’s stories tackle very complex ideas in ways that are consistently playful and accessible, and that is their genius. Yes, Wallace’s work can be exhausting and tedious because of its obsessive need to be clear and precise and intellectually rigorous. But that isn’t pretension.

laughingsquid: Prism Glasses Enable Reading While Lying Down

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:57:59 +1000

laughingsquid:

Prism Glasses Enable Reading While Lying Down

lostsplendor: A crossdressed F. Scott Fitzgerald during his...

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 10:19:57 +1000

lostsplendor:

A crossdressed F. Scott Fitzgerald during his years at Princeton.

theparisreview: darienlibrary: While interning at the American...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:35:49 +1000

theparisreview:

darienlibrary:

While interning at the American Library in Paris a few summers ago, I came across this issue of Library Journal from 1950. This is sweet, beautiful proof that we’ve been worried about new media making reading obsolete for oh … ever.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

theparisreview: A Partial Inventory of Gustave Flaubert’s...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 02:20:43 +1000

theparisreview:

A Partial Inventory of Gustave Flaubert’s Personal Effects

As Catalogued by M. Lemoel on May 20, 1880, Twelve Days after the Writer’s Death.

In the bedroom on the first floor:

panama hat
top hat
red silk cravat
5 pairs of gloves
19 shirts
2 dressing gowns
5 waistcoasts
7 walking sticks
tobacco jar
two pairs of boots

In the dining room:

35 champagne glasses
48 porcelain dinner plates
a painting representing Napoléon I
a pocket watch in a gold case engraved with initials ‘GF’
a gold watch chain
a gold signet ring with square stone
a silver spoon and two forks marked ‘N flaubert’
5 oyster-knives with black handles and silver blades

In the study on the first floor:

Engraving in oakwood frame representing The temptation of Saint Antoine by Callot
Marble clock with bronze figurines, maker’s name ‘Destigny’ engraved on dial
Photographic reproduction of painting entitled Visions
Array consisting of lances, javelins, arrows, mandolin, Basque drum, axe, oriental pipe, cardboard Chinese statuette
Large round table in mahogany
Green woolen tablecloth
One tiger skin, one lynx skin, one bear skin, white
Penholder in the shape of dragon
Bronze inkwell
Three paperknives, one with initials ‘GF’
Two Egyptian lanterns
Unfinished manuscript of work entitled Bouvard et Pécuchet
Creuzer, Religions of Antiquity in 11 vols
Works of Saint Theresa in Migne edition
Works of Walter Scott in 32 vols.
(In the drawer of one of the small bookcases is found the sum of 2515 francs, which sum is deposited with Maitre Bidault to cover funeral expenses, burial charges, and other debts.)