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Jack Aubrey
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Oh, that Yes book looks interesting . . .

 

It was interesting, and the author explores an incredible amount of ideas in a relatively short 250 pages. Although the author draws from a staggering number of sources, it sometimes feels as though he's going out on a limb and not always able to find his way back (the chapter on the lyrics is a good example of this). There is still plenty to enjoy here, although I wanted a little bit more of musical analysis (it doesn't really get technical at all, other than a few mentions of things like time signatures). There's a short section of photos, and a decent number of quotes from the band and their engineer, Eddy Offord. It's certainly written with the fan in mind, as opposed to trying to make an argument to convince a non-fan about the album's worth, so it's a little bit "fan-boyish" at times. There are a few confusing typos, but nothing major. Rush get a couple of mentions, btw.

 

Will Romano also wrote "Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock" which is well worth a look.

 

518kres5gvL._SX383_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

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Oh, that Yes book looks interesting . . .

 

It was interesting, and the author explores an incredible amount of ideas in a relatively short 250 pages. Although the author draws from a staggering number of sources, it sometimes feels as though he's going out on a limb and not always able to find his way back (the chapter on the lyrics is a good example of this). There is still plenty to enjoy here, although I wanted a little bit more of musical analysis (it doesn't really get technical at all, other than a few mentions of things like time signatures). There's a short section of photos, and a decent number of quotes from the band and their engineer, Eddy Offord. It's certainly written with the fan in mind, as opposed to trying to make an argument to convince a non-fan about the album's worth, so it's a little bit "fan-boyish" at times. There are a few confusing typos, but nothing major. Rush get a couple of mentions, btw.

 

Will Romano also wrote "Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock" which is well worth a look.

 

518kres5gvL._SX383_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

Thanks for the review! I had seen this ^^ book and wondered about it -- I'm mostly an eBook guy these days (unless I can find a cheaper used copy) because She Who Must be Obeyed has instituted a "book-in, book-out, zero-growth" policy, and I wondered if an "illustrated history" would be worth it in that format. Maybe I'll check it out.

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Oh, that Yes book looks interesting . . .

 

It was interesting, and the author explores an incredible amount of ideas in a relatively short 250 pages. Although the author draws from a staggering number of sources, it sometimes feels as though he's going out on a limb and not always able to find his way back (the chapter on the lyrics is a good example of this). There is still plenty to enjoy here, although I wanted a little bit more of musical analysis (it doesn't really get technical at all, other than a few mentions of things like time signatures). There's a short section of photos, and a decent number of quotes from the band and their engineer, Eddy Offord. It's certainly written with the fan in mind, as opposed to trying to make an argument to convince a non-fan about the album's worth, so it's a little bit "fan-boyish" at times. There are a few confusing typos, but nothing major. Rush get a couple of mentions, btw.

 

Will Romano also wrote "Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock" which is well worth a look.

 

518kres5gvL._SX383_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

Thanks for the review! I had seen this ^^ book and wondered about it -- I'm mostly an eBook guy these days (unless I can find a cheaper used copy) because She Who Must be Obeyed has instituted a "book-in, book-out, zero-growth" policy, and I wondered if an "illustrated history" would be worth it in that format. Maybe I'll check it out.

 

I'm not an e-book guy, so I dunno how this one translates to the medium. I can tell you that the book is just under 250 pages, full of pictures and decent info about many of the bands. Rush have their own section of a dozen pages or thereabouts. Lots of info on Yes, King Crimson, Tull, etc. Romano seems to be a Gentle Giant fan, which I appreciate!

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13589135._UY421_SS421_.jpg

 

Bought this without realizing that it stops in 1951 (what? why?), but we'll see how it shakes out. Lots of info, although the author's biases are evident, especially against other Kerouac biographers. Dunno where she got the idea that Quebec City was in Northern Quebec, other than Quebec is north of NYC. :huh:

 

Anyone here know a decent/good Kerouac bio? I would think that the last years of his life, although depressing, would hold some interest.

 

 

And speaking of "Beats", just finished this:

220px-GO_Scribners_1952.jpg

 

This came out a few years before "On the Road" and is almost its antithesis, being quite downbeat. The author has a more critical eye/mind than most of his wide-eyed peers at the time, and it's refreshing to read how charmless some of these people actually were.

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YAY! The library called, said they were back open, had 5 of Karen's holds available (3 of which I wanted to read) and one of mine. Will get those tomorrow and get back to reading.
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Finally! Started:

 

Journey of the Pharaohs: A Novel from the NUMA Files, by Clive Cussler.

Next: Crooked River, by Douglas Preston & Lee Child (Agent Pendergast series).

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Almost finished:

 

51AeRYvLeNL._SX307_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

From 1951, this is one of two sci-fi books that JDM wrote. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but am enjoying this.

A quirky tale about mind control.

 

 

Next up:

2011-ishi-in-two-worlds-50th-anniversary-edition-pdf-a-biography-of-the-last-wild-indian-in-north-america-by-theodora-kroeber-university-of-california-press-1-638.jpg?cb=1569012490

Looking forward to this one.

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Finished Belgravia a few weeks back, been on my list for a long time. Another period piece by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame. This one starts as Napoleon is defeated and then takes up 30 years later, all in England of course. Great story of manners, class and what happens when someone breaks the rules.

 

Currently finishing Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs. Great paranormal series, shapeshifter in a werewolf pack. Always lots of goings on with the fae, vampires and other supes. Re-reading a couple of books before I start the newest one that came out a couple of months ago. Fun escape.

Edited by Rhyta
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Quo Vadis? - by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Roman Empire under Nero.

 

Wow you are a history buff. Is this in Latin? You're a better one than me Gunga Din :coy: ;)

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Just finished a small pile:

 

Ishi: In Two Worlds - well researched and written. Tells the story of the extinction of the Yahi tribe and its final member, Ishi, who wandered into "civilization" in 1911. Obviously a little bit of a depressing read, but the payoff is worth it. 5 stars

 

 

The Red Hot Typewriter (John D MacDonald bio) - One of the few books available on JDM. Relies heavily on correspondence (think "Ghost Rider" but more focused and much slimmer). A tricky character to write about as all he seemed to do was write! Extensive bibliography.

 

 

The Way Some People Die (Ross Macdonald) - A criminally (ahem) underrated American writer. Great hard-boiled stuff, with excellent descriptions.

 

 

Blindness (Jose Saramago) - Written using two punctuation marks (comma, period - although there were a couple of question marks and one set of quotation marks), this is a fairly dense block of text that reads easier than one would expect. It took me a couple chapters to get into the flow, but then was carried along. A tale of an epidemic of spontaneous blindness. The prose sometimes reminded me of Derek19's classic posts:

 

"Out there in the hallway, in the yard, the blind internees, helpless, some badly bruised from the blows, others from being trampled, dragged themselves along, most of them were elderly, many women and children, beings with few or no defenses, and it was nothing short of a miracle that there were not more corpses in need of burial."

 

It would be interesting to hear a blind reader's opinion on the book.

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Also finished my stack of JDM novels. Read almost 40 so far, including the 21 Travis McGee books.

 

The stand-alone novels are usually quite good, but some are better than others. Of the ones I've read so far, these are my favourites:

 

The Damned (1952)

All These Condemned (1954)

Murder in the Wind (1956)

Deadly Welcome (1959)

The Drowner (1963)

 

 

Haven't read The Executioners (aka Cape Fear) yet, although it's in the mail (along with another small pile of JDM stand-alones).

 

Hard to rate the McGee series. I'll re-read them in order at some point. Pale Grey for Guilt was really good, as was A Deadly Shade of Gold. Free Fall in Crimson seemed to be written on autopilot, and was my least fave.

 

All in all, I've quite enjoyed my dive into JDM. Looking forward to reading more of the stand-alones.

 

 

drowner.jpg

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Quo Vadis? - by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Roman Empire under Nero.

 

Wow you are a history buff. Is this in Latin? You're a better one than me Gunga Din :coy: ;)

The title means 'where are you going.' It was originally written in Polish. An audiobook is available on youtube in English, if you're interested.
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Have read 7-9 of Mercy Thompson series. Mercy is a shapeshifter in a werewolf pack, she's an auto mechanic who works on German cars by day (Mercedes is her first name :laughing guy: ) . Always lots of goings on with the fae, vampires and other supes. Was going to read one more before starting the 11th one. But I decided to start the series over from the beginning, so just finished #1 Moon Called yesterday. There are so many subplots with the different groups I had forgotten a bit and besides I was having a reading funk a month ago and just decided to go with a series with a main character I really like. Most paranormal series are just romances disguised as a fantasy. These are relatively light on the romance and a good plot with very enjoyable characters. All in all, as I said before a fun escape. That's what I need now, have tried a book about the 1917 pandemic but can't seem to stick with it (hmm wonder why? ;))
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