tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post112438169465071563..comments2024-03-29T15:45:04.867+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Capsule reading: pocket booksJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124709081943602542005-08-22T16:41:00.000+05:302005-08-22T16:41:00.000+05:30when i was doing my grad in Delhi, i randomly pick...when i was doing my grad in Delhi, i randomly picked up "SUMMER" - a collection of essays by Albert Camus (a pocket book of course) from a small second-hand bookstore in Kamla Nagar. it has never left me and my purse is always big enough to carry it everywhere.Swar Thounaojamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11214479662694190609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124648980752377822005-08-21T23:59:00.000+05:302005-08-21T23:59:00.000+05:30well,i was sorta hoping you were right.well,i was sorta hoping you were right.La Figlia Che Piangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054189552538980599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124634744377885972005-08-21T20:02:00.000+05:302005-08-21T20:02:00.000+05:30Srin: You're right, of course. that should have be...Srin: You're right, of course. that should have been other Claudius book - mea culpa.Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791162324919462038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124555238519797352005-08-20T21:57:00.000+05:302005-08-20T21:57:00.000+05:30Pocket books are very dissappointing.Uh,about the ...Pocket books are very dissappointing.Uh,about the other Claudius books,are'nt there just two?I,Claudius and Claudius The God?La Figlia Che Piangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054189552538980599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124553052061829722005-08-20T21:20:00.000+05:302005-08-20T21:20:00.000+05:30Jabberwock: Know what you mean - there's always th...Jabberwock: Know what you mean - there's always the tussle between putting the book in its logical place by content or logical place by size - so it's like should I put this with the early Faulkner? But then it'll look odd sandwiched between these books - maybe at the end there, then, but no, no that's just wrong!Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791162324919462038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124528139603595302005-08-20T14:25:00.000+05:302005-08-20T14:25:00.000+05:30The British Council Library Pune has the whole BBC...The British Council Library Pune has the whole BBC series of 'I, Claudius' in a set of five DVDs (including Special Features). I've got through the first two. It's an excellent series.Aditya Bidikarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17799184995636004373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124515233119555692005-08-20T10:50:00.000+05:302005-08-20T10:50:00.000+05:30Falstaff: agree, mostly. Incidentally, one of the ...Falstaff: agree, mostly. Incidentally, one of the more oddball reasons I'm not too comfortable with pocket books is that it's awkward finding space for them in a standard bookshelf, and storing arrangements have to be re-thought (how's that for being nitpicky!)<BR/><BR/>Sunil: for some reason the British COuncil Library had only the first two cassettes (at least, a few years ago), so never saw the whole thing. Derek Jacobi is a favourite actor, so it was quite frustrating.<BR/>(Incidentally, in the early 1960s there was an ambitious film project underway, with the great Charles Laughton in the lead. But it got scrapped, not sure why exactly.)<BR/><BR/>Cheshire Cat: I'm not sure now, wrote it without thinking too hard about it but yes, it does look awkward in the sentence. Might replace it with 'daunting'.<BR/><BR/>Marauder, Buchu: I think the stories by her in the pocket book are on the virtues of shopping - retail therapy, etc. Penguin describes her as a "woman-about-town", which I suppose is a good thing to be if you're going to write a pocket book on shopping.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124448217815777092005-08-19T16:13:00.000+05:302005-08-19T16:13:00.000+05:30isn't she some posh woman (daughter of someone..i ...isn't she some posh woman (daughter of someone..i can't recall whom...only the british upper classes would call their children 'india')...who wrote two books- mostly chicklit. <BR/><BR/>having written the above para, i googled her, to find this. <BR/>http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/india.htm<BR/><BR/>i've quite a few of the new penguin pocket book series....but india knight???!!!!!BeeDeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04827933092197745547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124436388334850682005-08-19T12:56:00.000+05:302005-08-19T12:56:00.000+05:30I have long wondered who India Knight is. Every ne...I have long wondered who India Knight is. Every new edition of a Georgette Heyer book has an encomium from this presumably august person saying 'Georgette Heyer is unparalleled' (or some such laudatory word). Who is she?The Marauder's Maphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05691114757718617846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124420575369211532005-08-19T08:32:00.000+05:302005-08-19T08:32:00.000+05:30I haven't seen "prepossessing" used in this sense ...I haven't seen "prepossessing" used in this sense before. Are you sure the usage is correct?Cheshire Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463645065346922684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124391798905793992005-08-19T00:33:00.000+05:302005-08-19T00:33:00.000+05:30I think the pocket books are a great idea.....perf...I think the pocket books are a great idea.....perfect to read on a bus or train or during a coffee break at work....(of course, it's perfect to read the entire book as well.....but, oh well!).<BR/><BR/>But speaking of I, Claudius......I don't know if you've seen the BBC plays of the book (7 VHS tapes, 13 episodes....which I OWN). I found the dramatization to be excellent over all, and did bring the book to life.<BR/><BR/>here's a <A HREF="http://www.historyinfilm.com/claudius/" REL="nofollow">link</A> I found about that. I don't know if Amazon is shipping now to India, but they have it, and it's worth the buy.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1124389282833383082005-08-18T23:51:00.000+05:302005-08-18T23:51:00.000+05:30I'm unconvinced about the value of pocket books th...I'm unconvinced about the value of pocket books that just take out sections of novels and print them seperately. a) I'm not sure I could stop reading if I'd got through some part of the book - so for instance I doubt I could read Caligula without reading all of I, Claudius (not to mention the other Claudius books) and b) even if that could work (so for instance, there've been quite a few times that I've read chapters from Woolf by themselves) I still feel that I'd rather have the full book and read a part of it then be limited to only an extract.<BR/><BR/>That said, I do think pocketbooks can serve an important purpose - not just to give you three / four great short stories in a stand alone book, but also as a useful way of publishing short fiction / novelettes by great authors which get left out / clubbed with other stuff. There's loads of this stuff around - all the way from Flaubert's Temptation of St. Anthony and a couple of short stories by Cervantes to Faulkner's mini-novels (The Bear, etc.) and of course Salinger's work (Seymour, Raise high the Roof Beam). Or think Dostoyevsky - the Gambler, the Double. What I find really irritating about this stuff right now is that it invariably comes packaged with some other writing, often stuff I already own, because of which it seems wasteful to buy the whole thing again just to get my hands on one small short work. So putting it in pocket books would be really great. And that way you could easily go from author to author as well.<BR/><BR/>I also think pocket books are a great format for plays - I get so tired of carrying around heavy collected works when all I want to read is one play. So for instance I'd rather own each of Eugene O'Neill's plays by itself than invest in a single collected works.Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791162324919462038noreply@blogger.com