I have been retired for almost ten years and have found reading to be the most rewarding way of passing my time. I read novels old and new, I have reread Robert Louis Stevenson to remind me of my youth, some Dickens, loved Stienbeck and Mark Twain. Of the more modern writers I have enjoyed Marlon James, Ian Mcewan, but I find Flan o Brien endlessly thought provoking and entertaining.
I also read some biography and have spent some time trying to understand some of the science and mathematics which I was supposed to have understood when I gained qualifications in these subjects during my youth. I hope my eyesight does not deteriorate to an extent that no longer allows me to enjoy the printed word in all it's forms.
I've read novels all my life (am 81 now) and my source these days is paperbacks from charity shops. A very wide range of unexpected hits and misses, but great entertainment.
The worse the world gets the more I read. I read biographies of people who seem to have a handle on life, I read books by Elif Shafak to try to understand other cultures. I re-read books I love & books published by Persephone to support independent publishers., and I hold my breath….
It is rare to find a book nowadays that outcompetes podcasts. The most recent one “Swerve” is an American Pulitzer Prize winner. Worth reading if you are in any way irreligious.
Other questions; Was God asleep during the Hitler Shoah, why is Russia trying to take Ukraine when it cannot run an economy of 120 million better than Australia with 35 million. Why is China believing that it owns Taiwan when America does not believe it owns Canada or Mexico, which are contiguous?
That throwaway line about the 2010s looking like the sixties witout the fun bits needs a rethink.
The sixties in the UK had one of the greatest reforming governments ever,Wilson's 1966 government. Reforming the abortion law,the decriminilisation of homosexual acts,abolishing capital punishment, reforming the private rental sector , the anti-racial discrimination act,abolishing censorship in the theatre and in literature, the the reform of the divorce laws, women's rights etc, it carried out social reforms that no government since can mtch.
In the US the civil rights movements success and LBJ's Grreat Society transformed life there. Never mind the 2010's it's been downhill all the way in both countries since with no government coming close in either country since and certainly not in this miserable century so far.
On the specific of the anti-war movements it is always an impossible task as the US and it's allies, both governments and oppositions, always find a reason for continuing their more or less never ending wars in defence of US hegemony and generally backed to the hilt by most of media including the liberal media.
To go back to the sixties an honorale exception was again Harold Wilson who refused to bow to US pressure to send troops to Vietnam.
These days, listening to a novel has to count with reading a novel. Yes, it's a different experience because it doesn't activate that sweet spot in our brains that reading does. But most of the other pleasures are there to be heard and enjoyed.
I'm not a big reader of military history but my favorite non-fiction audiobook is Stalingrad by Antony Beevor, read by Michael Tudor-Barnes. All those German and Russian names pronounced properly. Beevor's Berlin book is also great but so full of such depraved violence that it's disturbing even to listen to!
Sometimes I need the helpful flow of the voice; for example, I don't think I'd have ever finished Ulysses without the audio. The Irish lilt is essential, isn't it?
I struggled with the book version of Voss by Patrick White, which you recommended last year, but I stuck with reading it and really enjoyed it! Books take effort; audio-books just roll!
I have been retired for almost ten years and have found reading to be the most rewarding way of passing my time. I read novels old and new, I have reread Robert Louis Stevenson to remind me of my youth, some Dickens, loved Stienbeck and Mark Twain. Of the more modern writers I have enjoyed Marlon James, Ian Mcewan, but I find Flan o Brien endlessly thought provoking and entertaining.
I also read some biography and have spent some time trying to understand some of the science and mathematics which I was supposed to have understood when I gained qualifications in these subjects during my youth. I hope my eyesight does not deteriorate to an extent that no longer allows me to enjoy the printed word in all it's forms.
I've read novels all my life (am 81 now) and my source these days is paperbacks from charity shops. A very wide range of unexpected hits and misses, but great entertainment.
The worse the world gets the more I read. I read biographies of people who seem to have a handle on life, I read books by Elif Shafak to try to understand other cultures. I re-read books I love & books published by Persephone to support independent publishers., and I hold my breath….
It is rare to find a book nowadays that outcompetes podcasts. The most recent one “Swerve” is an American Pulitzer Prize winner. Worth reading if you are in any way irreligious.
Other questions; Was God asleep during the Hitler Shoah, why is Russia trying to take Ukraine when it cannot run an economy of 120 million better than Australia with 35 million. Why is China believing that it owns Taiwan when America does not believe it owns Canada or Mexico, which are contiguous?
That throwaway line about the 2010s looking like the sixties witout the fun bits needs a rethink.
The sixties in the UK had one of the greatest reforming governments ever,Wilson's 1966 government. Reforming the abortion law,the decriminilisation of homosexual acts,abolishing capital punishment, reforming the private rental sector , the anti-racial discrimination act,abolishing censorship in the theatre and in literature, the the reform of the divorce laws, women's rights etc, it carried out social reforms that no government since can mtch.
In the US the civil rights movements success and LBJ's Grreat Society transformed life there. Never mind the 2010's it's been downhill all the way in both countries since with no government coming close in either country since and certainly not in this miserable century so far.
On the specific of the anti-war movements it is always an impossible task as the US and it's allies, both governments and oppositions, always find a reason for continuing their more or less never ending wars in defence of US hegemony and generally backed to the hilt by most of media including the liberal media.
To go back to the sixties an honorale exception was again Harold Wilson who refused to bow to US pressure to send troops to Vietnam.
These days, listening to a novel has to count with reading a novel. Yes, it's a different experience because it doesn't activate that sweet spot in our brains that reading does. But most of the other pleasures are there to be heard and enjoyed.
Somehow it feels like cheating. I have been using audiobooks for non-fiction — better than most podcasts.
Agreed.
I'm not a big reader of military history but my favorite non-fiction audiobook is Stalingrad by Antony Beevor, read by Michael Tudor-Barnes. All those German and Russian names pronounced properly. Beevor's Berlin book is also great but so full of such depraved violence that it's disturbing even to listen to!
Sometimes I need the helpful flow of the voice; for example, I don't think I'd have ever finished Ulysses without the audio. The Irish lilt is essential, isn't it?
I struggled with the book version of Voss by Patrick White, which you recommended last year, but I stuck with reading it and really enjoyed it! Books take effort; audio-books just roll!
Totally agree. I've found autobiographies work well too, especially when they're read by the author. Ah, I love Voss. It does pay off!
Just wondering if you were aware of this:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/my-rage-for-the-page-52-books-from-52-countries-in-52-weeks-again-20231218-p5es73.html
I was not — thank you!