tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post3551788207925491082..comments2023-11-22T09:11:01.567+00:00Comments on George Szirtes: The Society PagesGeorge Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-50192914916243306872009-02-01T16:07:00.000+00:002009-02-01T16:07:00.000+00:00Hello GeorgeDo you know the line from the (childre...Hello George<BR/><BR/>Do you know the line from the (children's) film Madagascar: Gloria, the large funky hippo, is mad about a certain giraffe, and says of this giraffe, in a very southern US voice, 'I just want to dunk him in my coffee!'. <BR/><BR/>So you could have just leapt in a cup to see what happened next...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-79355008222646655282009-02-01T12:18:00.000+00:002009-02-01T12:18:00.000+00:00"Yes, I have Levi's poetry. It's good but it is no..."Yes, I have Levi's poetry. It's good but it is not what he will be remembered for ("unforgettable")."<BR/><BR/>That seems to be a fairly common consensus. However, I am not so certain. Levi has the authority and the skill to occasionally do justice to the vatic pronouncement in a way that few others could manage (Blake? Yeats?). The title of his book 'If This Is A Man' is taken from one of the most powerful of those poems, Shema, (quoted in full, if I remember, as a preface/foreword). Another I'll never forget is 'Annunciation'.Mark Granierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-77034951056816684872009-01-31T22:45:00.000+00:002009-01-31T22:45:00.000+00:00Billy, You're ahead of me. Good luck with your bio...Billy, You're ahead of me. Good luck with your biog-edit.<BR/>GwilymGwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-46070517614187441682009-01-31T22:43:00.000+00:002009-01-31T22:43:00.000+00:00Ah then Billy C you've thought of everything! Good...Ah then Billy C you've thought of everything! Good luck with your project.<BR/>George don't mind as long as folks keep it civilised. I've only been yellow-carded the once on GS. <BR/><BR/>Off to your boy Foster now to tell about Janko.Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-79407661119352713232009-01-30T22:27:00.000+00:002009-01-30T22:27:00.000+00:00Hope George doesn't mind us using his blog to conv...Hope George doesn't mind us using his blog to converse. I'm sure he'll tell me if he feels I'm misusing his medium.<BR/><BR/>Already done that, PiR. Stephen Foster, boy, is my editor. Here is his first account of my efforts...<BR/><BR/>"Your novel is.....James Bond meets The Sixth Form at Mallory <BR/>Towers! It is indeed a truly new hybrid and I salute your 'cheek' in <BR/>constructing it. Well done for a proper good attempt at a first draft.<BR/><BR/>Now, onto some serious editing:"<BR/><BR/>After a year of editing....using my 24" screen, I'm just about getting there. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-57087166909126551722009-01-30T16:24:00.000+00:002009-01-30T16:24:00.000+00:00Ah well Billy, your lots of grandkids, and I'm sur...Ah well Billy, your lots of grandkids, and I'm sure the are grand kids, gives me another idea. Instead of 'reading' an RNIB book why not 'write' a book of your own but on tape like that woman from Gateshead (sorry name escapes me) and have somebody type it up. You could perhaps manage 30 mins a day away from those energetic saplings?Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-86264604106025459532009-01-30T10:39:00.000+00:002009-01-30T10:39:00.000+00:00"Good luck with your eyes Billy. Long may they fun..."Good luck with your eyes Billy. Long may they function. Maybe you can get those free talking books from the RNIB Library, they have thousands, and it's free postage."<BR/><BR/>I've tried those, PiR. Unfortunately, I fall asleep too often while I'm listening to them. The after effects/affects [select which one is right] of having too many grandchildren who think this is their home. Thanks for the thought.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-71975873346818962542009-01-30T04:34:00.000+00:002009-01-30T04:34:00.000+00:00"You should have seen me, reader!" *grin*George, y..."You should have seen me, reader!" *grin*<BR/><BR/>George, you've missed your vocation as a society columnist.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07747839768257543728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-41757350852555863182009-01-29T16:43:00.000+00:002009-01-29T16:43:00.000+00:00I will always remember Brian Clough with affection...I will always remember Brian Clough with affection, especially for ordering those two meat pies for half time with an appropriate two-finger signal to the serving lady in the steam at the back of the stand. <BR/><BR/>In his prime the best manager England never had. I've also read Primo Levi's book, got a couple of his around here someplace. At the moment I'm reading a Magda Goebbels biography as well as my daily ration of Thomas Bernhard. I tried a Schnitzler but couldn't hack it. It was what it was - a doctor trying to write a novel writing a novel that read as if a doctor had written it - so gave up after 50 pp.<BR/><BR/>Good luck with your eyes Billy. Long may they function. Maybe you can get those free talking books from the RNIB Library, they have thousands, and it's free postage.Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-16628034039134030672009-01-29T10:56:00.000+00:002009-01-29T10:56:00.000+00:00Yes, I have Levi's poetry. It's good but it is not...Yes, I have Levi's poetry. It's good but it is not what he will be remembered for ("unforgettable"). I have read most of Levi, but not 'Conversations'.George Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-70235881933574772272009-01-29T10:54:00.000+00:002009-01-29T10:54:00.000+00:00"The classic, and best I know, is Primo Levi's If ..."The classic, and best I know, is Primo Levi's If This Is a Man."<BR/><BR/>Yes, unforgettable. I admire Levi's poetry too, which some people are inclined to dismiss. I recently finished a good biography on Levi, and a delightful short book called 'Conversations' (with the physicist Tullio Regge): everything from Sci-Fi to the Talmud.Mark Granierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899629187771913398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-28407913216325746672009-01-29T10:53:00.000+00:002009-01-29T10:53:00.000+00:00Thanks, Billy.Revie and Clough: Clough had the sam...Thanks, Billy.<BR/><BR/>Revie and Clough: Clough had the same problem.George Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-80738080652450978902009-01-29T10:08:00.000+00:002009-01-29T10:08:00.000+00:00Have read that Primo Levi book, George. I gave a c...Have read that Primo Levi book, George. I gave a copy to my son for Christmas. He's reading it now. An amazing book. Having read a few books on The Holocaust, the most amazing part (to me) was the time he spent after he was liberated. Until I read that book, I had absolutely no idea of the trials and tribulations those unfortunates had getting back home. Naievely, maybe, I was under the impression that all the prisoners were taken back to their homes in an orderly fashion.<BR/><BR/>Another book that fascinated me was Maus. It was a shock to discover that the principle character was a bigot even after suffering what he did. We live and learn.<BR/><BR/>How dare you put Don Revie and Brian clough in the same sentence! Phttt! :)<BR/><BR/>David Conn: The Beautiful Game. Excellent and I recommend it to you if you haven't already read it.<BR/><BR/>See winger in about a week. He'll have a copy of the Buergenthal for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-43354266096606806812009-01-29T09:05:00.000+00:002009-01-29T09:05:00.000+00:00Kitten-swinging: the wielding of a small cat o' ni...Kitten-swinging: the wielding of a small cat o' nine (short) tails.<BR/><BR/>I haven't read the Buergenthal, Billy. I have read some others. The classic, and best I know, is Primo Levi's <I>If This Is a Man</I>.George Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-24825890201259074472009-01-29T07:48:00.000+00:002009-01-29T07:48:00.000+00:00I enjoyed reading that, George...started my mornin...I enjoyed reading that, George...started my morning well. "You could have dropped me in a very big cup of coffee and never missed me." I like that. Espresso?<BR/><BR/>Just bought a new book to read on my hols to Portugal next month. "A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy" by<BR/>Thomas Buergenthal. Have you read it? Critique? I read very slowly. It's the eyes you see. Fifteen minutes at a time is max. Glaucoma. Old age. <BR/><BR/>Have y'all a good day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-18023832885530682312009-01-28T23:35:00.000+00:002009-01-28T23:35:00.000+00:00Cat-swinging is in fact a reference to the cat-o'-...Cat-swinging is in fact a reference to the cat-o'-nine-tails.<BR/><BR/>Not felix domesticus. <BR/><BR/>Equally, since I'm on the subject, the 'cat' in catgut is in fact a corruption of 'kitgut', meaning simply a fiddle string.puthwuthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606399161863289851noreply@blogger.com