Book & site list

[TisILeclerc]

But that is precisely what the French are calling us

That's right. They are the only ones.

The Spanish don't and the Germans don't. Only the French. The Welsh, Irish and Scots don't even try.

At least the French mispronounce English or Inglis like they mispronounce everything else.

[Boreades]

The book is set in a near-future Britain. Burgess uses the philosophical differences between Pelasgius (of Britain) and Augustine (of Hippo) to construct a cyclical explanation of history in which tolerant liberalism (ie Pelasgianism) always goes too far and is gradually reined in by neo-Augustinianism (ie the forces of repression -- or perhaps order) which then in turn go too far ushering in an era in which Pelasgiansism gradually comes to the fore. And so on and so on endlessly.

Although Burgess is himself clearly on the side of Pelasgius (as far as I can remember, it's thirty years since I read it) we as Applied Epistemologists would probably recognise that both sides are correct in certain circumstances, in different countries and in different applications.

Your words came to mind while I read a review of Europe's original Green Party, emphasising environmentalism, organic farming, vegetarian diets and renewable energy sources. Otherwise known to us as National Socialism.

Fascist Ecology: The "Green Wing" of the Nazi Party and its Historical Antecedents

[Mick Harper]

I couldn't hold out any longer. I am finally reading Harry Potter. A Brief History of the Common Law by Harry Potter. Seems a bit dry. I can't see what all the fuss is about.

[Boreades]

I couldn't hold out any longer. I am finally reading Harry Potter. A Brief History of the Common Law by Harry Potter. Seems a bit dry. I can't see what all the fuss was about.

Aha, I can see where you've gone wrong.

You should be reading one of his other books. I recommend "Bloodfeud: The Stewarts and Gordans at War: The Murrays and Gordons at War in the Age of Mary Queen of Scots" - there's a lot more sex, violence and crime in that one.

The book plots the bloody feud between two great Scottish earldoms during the sixteenth-century. This is a story of passions, and follies, of courage and crime. It is set before a backdrop of the tragic life of Mary Queen of Scots, deposed by her own half brother, the first earl of Moray, the Machiavellian nature of court politics, and the extraordinary success of James VI, who managed to hold sway over feuding and arrogant nobles, and ultimately protect his favourite, the sixth earl of Huntly from retribution for the killing of his rival.

Or his book on the Scottish Civil War - Edinburgh Under Siege 1571-1573 -

In 1571 Edinburgh was at the center of a bloody three-year siege in which many men sacrificed their lives in support of the dethroned Queen Mary. William Kirkcaldy, as keeper of the ancient fort and regal palace, with his allies defiantly held the castle against a succession of regents. In despair Regent James Douglas, the Earl of Morton, turned to Scotland s oldest enemy, the English, to overthrow the Castle rebels. Within 10 days the English cannons and a thousand men brought the rebels to their knees and the majestic towers of the citadel crumbling around them. The siege was an embodiment of the hatred and rivalry between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I

Just imagine, if you had been a budding writer sitting in (say) the back window of a coffee house at what is now 21 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EN, you could have watched the whole thing in real time. Who knows, you might have been inspired to write a mega-best-selling book about it all. Stranger things have happened.

[Boreades]

Oh, for ducks sake! I've just realised I have made the most appalling blunder with my literary career.

M'Lady Boreades and I frequented the very next door cafe, Patisserie Valerie.

http://www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/nor ... -cafe.aspx

If only we had gone one door further on before our stop for lunch, obviously by now I would be just as rich and famous as that other author (not M.Harper). I'll just have to console myself with being talented, good looking and athletic.

[Boreades]

A special note for Mick, as this might not be reported in the Guardian.

Harry Potter's scribe appears to have escaped from the Scriptorium and is upsetting the delicate sensibilities of some liberal intelligensia. J K Rowling has gone up in my estimation, as she stood up for Donald Trump’s right to visit the UK, echoing S. G. Tallentyre's echo of the attitude of Voltaire.

‘I consider him offensive and bigoted. But he has my full support to come to my country and be offensive and bigoted there.’ The best-selling author said that Trump’s freedom to make ‘bigoted’ remarks, ‘protects my freedom to call him a bigot. His freedom guarantees mine.’ She warned that attempts to repeal any of those freedoms, however well intentioned, means ‘we have set foot upon a road with only one destination.’

She goes on.

Rowling explained that if she was to back a travel ban of Trump, because of his offensive comments, then she would have ‘no moral grounds on which to argue that those offended by feminism or the right for transgender rights or universal suffrage should not oppress campaigners for those causes.’ ‘If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand along tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justification,’ she added.

In the same way, much as I might disapprove of my reactionary wife getting pissed in public and saying offensive things about our neighbours, I will defend her right to do so.

[Mick Harper]

Ms Rowling is to be half-commended. What she doesn't realise is that Trump is not a bigot, he simply chooses a different set of people to dislike than, say, a member of the British liberal intelligentsia. We are all bigots or there is no such thing as a bigot, depending how you look at these things.

[Boreades]

I'm inclined to agree with the "We are all bigots" position.

Just as I say there's no such thing as an impartial observer. The very act of observing is a partial event, given the literal and physical limitations of our place of viewing, and the psychological limitations of our existing point of view. All coloured and filtered by whatever type of personality we have. None of these partialities being more correct than any other, just a different perception of the same event.

Well, that's my point of view.

[Boreades]

Some say Forgotten Books has a psychic ability to serve up books of interest. It seems to be still working.

Book of the day is: The Celtic Dragon Myth, by J. F. Campbell

J.F. Campbell of Islay was a Scottish writer and folklorist who spoke eight languages. His proficiency in languages was put to best use in recording Celtic lore and folktales in their original Gaelic. The genesis of The Celtic Dragon Myth came from Campbell's explorations of the Scottish Highlands, where he constantly heard tales of dragons. He also travelled to Japan, Russia, Sweden among other countries, where he heard similar stories.

In the Highlands, Campbell collected some 440 incidents, in 200 different versions, of dragon stories. The belief in sea monsters was still current in Wales, Ireland and Scotland, so Campbell distilled these accounts into The Celtic Dragon Myth as well. This book tells the tale of a Fisherman, his Three Sons, a Mermaid, Giants, Fairies, various sea creatures and more as they battle a mystical dragon. Linguistics junkies are in for a treat, as the story is also presented in Gaelic. There are Gothic drawings accompanying the text and the introduction compares the story to some very similar folk-tales from half a world away.

http://www.forgottenbooks.com/books/The ... 1000073503

PDF version available.

[Mick Harper]

But only for 24 hours according to my daily Forgotten Books update. How does this work?