On PBS Masterpiece
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| A PBS Masterpiece Mystery: Magpie Murders (from 2022) Two interlocking mysteries become strangely unified! Really entertaining. |
Crime Fiction
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| Police Inspector Peter Diamond detects in Peter Lovesy’s novel Bloodhounds. Notable: a mystery-reading society debates a vast list of classic crime fiction. Then the crimes begin! Which member pulled off this locked room mystery? |
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Three novels by Icelandic Noir author Lilja Sigarðardóttir in one volume. I’ve read the first one, Snare, and it’s good. The focus is on the criminals. I’ll be reading more. |
Miscellaneous Reading
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| An early dystopian novel by Colson Whitehead: Zone One. I’m still trying to get into this one, but it puts me to sleep. Too bad, I liked Whitehead’s more recent books. |
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| A fascinating essay by Japanese writer Tanizaki: In Praise of Shadows (1933). |
“I always think how different everything would be if we in the Orient had developed our own science. Suppose for instance that we had developed our own physics and chemistry: would not the techniques and industries based on them have taken a different form, would not our myriads of everyday gadgets, our medicines, the products of our industrial art—would they not have suited our national temper better than they do?” (In Praise of Shadows, p. 52)
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| Amusing and ostentatiously philosophical, food historian Massimo Montanari presents A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce. I’ll have more to say about this one! |
The history of Italian pasta has its roots in Roman, Greek, Arab, and Jewish cuisines in the Mediterranean region, which Montanari documents in detail. (He notes that pasta in China had an equally long but completely independent origin, with no influence on Europe.) The history of tomato sauce begins in Mexico long before the Europeans arrived there, and it reached Italy via Spain. The now-classic dish became totally Italian only in the 19th century. Very interesting food history! Montanari writes:
“In reality, products … never work by themselves. Cooking mixes them and puts them into play, making them interact. Basil is exquisite, but nobody eats basil by itself. Chili peppers are exquisite, but nobody eats just chili peppers. Pasta is exquisite, but nobody eats pasta without sauce. To be sure, cooking starts with ingredients but, above all, it relies on recipes. … Even the most autochthonous recipes, the ones based on ‘local’ products, are never so completely local as to exclude contributions from diverse origins.” (Montanari, p. 13)
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| A preachy warning? Literary Theory for Robots |
Already Reviewed
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| Two Oz books, reviewed here: Wandering around in the Land of Oz |
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| A book and a film, reviewed here: Reading and Watching |
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| A book full of intriguing ideas, reviewed here: Algorithmic! Watch out: I have another post coming about this book. |
Blog post © 2024 mae sander
13 comments:
Great reviews Mae! I enjoyed the Magpie Murder mystery series on PBS.
The Icelandic trilogy sounds interesting. Take care, enjoy your weekend.
It looks like good reading and good books! I loved both the Magpie Murders book and series. I'm glad they're doing a sequel of Moonflower Murders this summer on PBS. I need to read some Peter Lovesey -- I did once years ago and loved it.
The Lilja Sigurdardottir book is already on my wish list. I'm glad to read you liked it so now I'll be more ready to read it. And that pasta book sounds great too. I read a book about tomatoes last year, and it was interesting also. I think i'm going to bookmark that pasta book. It sounds fascinating. Have a great weekend Mae.
Quite and eclectic mix of books! Have a great weekend!
Ooh, I love food histories. I don't know why, I'm not a big eater or a cook, but it's something that's so telling about people and cultures, I guess! I'm curious about that one.
Just jumped over to GR to make sure Zone One is on my TBR, and it is. I'm a little worried though since it put you to sleep.
I have seen the Magpie Murders, and I enjoyed it very much. It's not so long ago I read The Wizard of Oz. It's a wonderful story.
Have a nice Sunday!
I keep hearing about Magpie Murders -- I want to watch that one!
Bloodhounds sounds like something I'd like to, especially with a narrowboat on the cover.
Magpie Murders was an excellent series, I think. My book group is reading the book this summer. I look forward to reading the book.
"I always think how different everything would be if we in the Orient had developed our own science..." What would this be like? Technology that doesn't focus on the individual as much as the group? Would we have a better world society?
"In reality, products … never work by themselves. Cooking mixes them and puts them into play, making them interact..." True of people, too?
You've had a great month of reading. I'm glad you shared your books today.
Sounds like you've read and watched some intriguing things this month. Sorry it's been so busy that you haven't really had time for reviews. I'm glad you were able to share your reviews this week.
https://jennielyse.com/sunday-news-56
In Praise of Shadows is so wonderful!
I need to try this Peter Diamond series, thanks!
What a fascinating group of books. So many interesting and inviting topics, like the book about spaghetti.
I liked the Magpie Murders series but I liked the book better.
I'll have to check out Magpie Murder Mysteries on PBS. I think I'd enjoy the series. I love pasta with marinara sauce! Interesting there's a whole book on its history.
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