Watcha Reading?

[stumpy]

Those are great books,Tuoni.Penguin Classics have translations of the Icelandic sagas, many by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, that are tremendously clear and readable.Njal's Saga, a book I've been reading since I was young,along with The Orkneyinga Saga(in spite of its title, much of the action takes place in Caithness) are personal favourites.

The book I'm reading at the moment is Ron Ferguson's George Mackay Brown:The Wound and the Gift.It's a very interesting read,neither a straightforward biography nor a piece of literary criticism(Ferguson himself says both of those things have already been done perfectly well), looking at GMB's life and the development of his thought, and how that shaped his work.He has some interesting and thought-provoking perspectives on a writer I thought I knew fairly well.Well worth a look for anyone who's ever read GMB.

[Tuoni]

I have read Orkneyinga Saga it is very good, Has helped me understand the history of Caithness at the time. I was surprised to find that Caithness was part of Norway at the time Njals & Egils Saga are both a good read too!

Not familiar with George Mackay Brown though sounds good.

Have you read Beowulf?

[stumpy]

I still have the 1960s Penguin Classic with the Sutton Hoo helmet on the cover! My mother had a great interest in history,so we had a lot of older texts like that around the house.English wasn't her first language, so the Icelandic sagas, which have a very clear and direct prose-style, appealed to her.Thurso's own George Gunn wrote a dramatised version of Egil's Saga(Egil,Son of the Night Wolf which was really good ,Brian Smith from Thurso took the lead role,a tremendous performance).The play was published a couple of years ago,Bews or DR Simpson should be able to trace it.

Pretty much everything George Mackay Brown wrote is still available,poetry,short stories,novels,childrens' books,plays,an autobiography and three collections of articles from The Orcadian, so plenty to choose from,certainly well worth a read.

[Tuoni]

Will check out that play it sounds interesting, I have an adaptation of Beowulf. By Magnus Magnusson, Sheila Mackie, & Julian Glover. Which worth a look, my version of the original has the old english version along side the modern english which is pretty neat.

[obalam]

I also recently finished this book by Jo Jo Moyes, absolutely Fantastic!!

[M Swanson]

The Quarriers Story by Anna Magnusson

A very interesting read about Glaswegian, William Quarrier, who opened a home for boys, in 1878. At times, the firsthand accounts by those who lived in the home was harrowing, but the book also celebrates the achievements over the years. Recommended reading.

[M Swanson]

'The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling.' My favourite is 'The Gods of the Copybook Headings.' This is an abridged version.

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four —
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man —
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began: —
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!