A Busy Day:Assisted By Leonid and Matthew

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There are days. And yesterday was one of them where you have things one after the other so that you're well just busy.

But before I left the apartment in the morning finished reading Operation Eichmann by Zvi Anaroni and Wilhelm Dietl. It was an interesting read and it reminds you that whatever you may think of the current Israeli government (and for the record I'm against it) Israelis have good reason to be cautious in their dealings with others.

So first then Cardiff. To the garage that will sort out the damage done to my car in the shunt. Tuesday was just a man taking pictures and examining it. Apparently the bumper and " impact bar" needs to be repaired. It's set for Thursday. Will collect the courtesy car then too.

Whilst I was waiting started to read the next book on the list. The Crushed Flower and other stories by the Russian writer Leonid Andreyev. Earlier this year I chatted about his novel The Seven Who Were Hanged, which I liked.

Once that was done off to Bridgend to get lectured on dental hygiene by someone old enough to be my granddaughter. Still my teeth are still there....and they're mine. Of course had to wait before I went in. So again had Leonid's book to distract me from the dental diatribe to come.

Afterwards had some time before work. Which meant lunch....and chips. But had about forty minutes left afterwards to read and as it turned out finish Leonid's work.

In truth some of the stories I liked,some I didn't. But the  stand out tale was undoubtedly the title story. It was quite simply quietly stunning

So work. And during breaks started to read the next book.Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry. A quick tale. When I was unemployed years ago and depressed. I discovered the fascinating and very American sports podcasts by the ESPN channel. I enjoyed most of them immensely, but my favourite was the Fantasy (American)  football which involved him, Nate Ravitz, Stephania  Bell and their producer Podvader.

I've chatted about Fantasy Sports before in this blog. But have never tried American football. And yet I loved it. So when this biography come stories of people's experiences with fantasy sports I had to buy it.

Funny thing was. I started reading this book years ago. In Disneyland Paris in fact. But I'd electronically put it down and for some reason forgot about  it....until now. Well with the caveat that you need to be interested in Fantasy Sports I can recommend this book heartily. It's simply about an ordinary guy with an extraordinary passion and how it affected his life as well as the way Fantasy sports has affected other people's lives as well.

The next tome on the eBook pile turns out to be The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan. I was toying with whether or not to read this because of my dislike of the racism in Prester John. I decided to read it out of curiosity given that it is the author's best known book. It's a decision I already regret.

Until the next time.

In Which I Strayed With Cheryl And Chat About A Few Russians (Only Books I'm Afraid)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Now that I'm a member of the local library I decided to go back to the ebook I electronically put to one side for a while Wild by Cheryl Strayed. In it she tells the story of how she undertook the Pacific Crest Trail (which starts in a desert) as a sort redemptive process after having gone off the rails emotionally following her mother's death.

Well it was finished and well it was a good read. Not a great read you understand. This notion of redemption is very American and the mere thought of walking a long way involving a desert is not my idea of fun (after all hot weather in South Wales makes me go into hives).

There is apparently a film of Wild starring Reese Witherspoon. This surprised me given that it's a rather slim tome. Perhaps it's a marketing ploy for those of us who've read the book to be tempted to watch it ready to mock should the movie be different in anyway. Well it's worked for me.....when it's on TV.....or Netflix anyway.

Next book randomly selected was The Seven Who Were Hanged by Leonid Andreyev. It's about people facing the death penalty and how they react I'd never heard of him before. But apparently he was a contemporary of Tolstoy and could be compared with Dostoevsky. Having read this book (the first of his I've ever read)....possibly.

This is not a whodunnit. All of those condemned to hang committed the crime. What the novel shows is their various and changeable reactions to their impending fate. It was compelling reading.

One of the points Andreyev does show is that you might not think you're Napoleon but being just this side of sanity doesn't mean that you should be hanged if you commit a murder (as opposed to life imprisonment you understand). Really this is an equally slim time as Wild but affected me much more.

So now the next book on the eBook pile turns out to be The Idiot by Dostoevsky. Again the kindle is revealing a sense of humour. And for the moment so far so good.

Until the next time.