vel veeter – Page 72 – Cannonball Read 17

The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov

Bottom of the Barrel by Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov's Dozen by Vladimir Nabokov

A Russian Beauty and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

Details of a Sunset and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

March 31, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

It’s always been true that most of Vladimir Nabokov’s literary output has been a family affair. Vera Nabokov was always his first reader, editor, “muse” and of course ran his life’s affair, as he was a kind classic European aristocratic effete, something he adored. In the United States, he was of course no better. These stories might be the most family affair as not only did Vladimir translate all of them with his son Dmitry, who also translated most of Nabokov’s Russian writing with his […]

Patrick Melrose

Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn

Bad News by Edward St Aubyn

Some Hope by Edward St Aubyn

Mother's Milk by Edward St Aubyn

At Last by Edward St Aubyn

March 31, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Never Mind We’re asked very soon into this novel to do a few things. One, accept that the novel will take up the space of only a few hours in a weekend getaway of group extremely rich British uppercrust. Two, we’re also asked to sometimes follow the thoughts and wisps of a young boy, the son of the estate-owner. And we’re asked to the deal with the fallout of a tremendously cruel and awful act of sexual violence, all the while the cutting insights of […]

Some stuff — Round Up

Money by Jacob Goldstein

Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo

Time and Free Will by Henri Bergson

Mind of my Mind by Octavia Butler

The Utopia of Rules by David Graeber

Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny

Assembly by Natasha Brown

Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel

People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn

A Fanatic Heart by Ron Rosenbaum

How Civil Wars Start by Barbara Walter

My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood

March 28, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Time and Free Will – 5/5 I am not a philosopher or even particularly well-read in philosophy, so this review is more from the perspective of someone with a literature background, and who is used to using philosophy to serve the aims of literature and philology. This book is particularly suited to the task because through early breakthroughs (or perhaps just ideologies) in psychology — specifically he references William James (and it’s possible he mentions Freud, but I don’t recall it specifically) — to better […]

Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears by John Ehle

March 25, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

This narrative history of the Cherokee Nation was first published in 1988 by John Ehle, known both as a historian of this bent and as a novelist of the early Americas. I’ve previous read his novel The Land Breakers, which takes place in the North Carolina west country in the 1700s. This history begins in the late 18th century as well by establishing the relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the, first, colonial Georgia government and the state government of Georgia and the national government […]

Compendium of Robert Heinlein

The Menace from Earth by Robert A Heinlein

Assignment in Eternity by Robert A Heinlein

Red Planet by Robert A Heinlein

For Us, the Living by Robert A Heinlein

Between Planets by Robert A Heinlein

Farmer in the Sky by Robert A Heinlein

March 23, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

The Menace from Earth – 3/5 Stars – Like a lot of science fiction writers, Robert Heinlein just wrote and published tons of stories. Some of them are good and some of them are not, and a lot of them were published with pseudonyms. This collection was edited and revised and republished in the 1990s in order to keep those Heinlein monies going. The collection is a mixed bag, and generally have the the opposite problem of the novels. The novels are often way weirder […]

The Coming Fury

The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton

March 21, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

The public is dying to know: if you were to write a comprehensive history of the US civil war, where would you begin. Shelby Foote begins his 3000 page history with Davis and Lincoln thinking about their relative positions at the start of things. Bruce Catton begins this trilogy of history written and published around the same time as Foote’s with the dueling conventions leading up to the 1860 presidential race. I like this approach because it more squarely deal with the question of what […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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