What book are you reading right now?

Prompted by a recent visit to the Abbey of St. Wandrille, Normandy, I'm re-reading:



If you don't know Patrick Leigh Fermor (the superb Powell-Pressberger film 'Ill Met by Moonlight' is about his exploits in wartime Crete), here is some blurb:

While still a teenager, Patrick Leigh Fermor made his way across Europe, as recounted in his classic memoirs, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. During World War II, he fought with local partisans against the Nazi occupiers of Crete. But in A Time to Keep Silence, Leigh Fermor writes about a more inward journey, describing his several sojourns in some of Europe’s oldest and most venerable monasteries. He stays at the Abbey of St. Wandrille, a great repository of art and learning; at Solesmes, famous for its revival of Gregorian chant; and at the deeply ascetic Trappist monastery of La Grande Trappe, where monks take a vow of silence. Finally, he visits the rock monasteries of Cappadocia, hewn from the stony spires of a moonlike landscape, where he seeks some trace of the life of the earliest Christian anchorites.

More than a history or travel journal, however, this beautiful short book is a meditation on the meaning of silence and solitude for modern life. Leigh Fermor writes, “In the seclusion of a cell—an existence whose quietness is only varied by the silent meals, the solemnity of ritual, and long solitary walks in the woods—the troubled waters of the mind grow still and clear, and much that is hidden away and all that clouds it floats to the surface and can be skimmed away; and after a time one reaches a state of peace that is unthought of in the ordinary world.”

One of my favorite contemporary writers.

Got this out from the library:-

Re-reading this. A really laymans science read about the mystery of how the universe became what it is.




This is preparatory to frightening myself to death by reading the author's latest.



Geoff

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
Got this out from the library:-

Funnily enough the hardback version turned up from Amazon this morning.

John

'Changes' by Jim Butcher...fab!

Just started this and it seems well up to standard:



steve

In light of the current state of the nations prospects I'm back reading for the umpteenth time Robert Tressels,

'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist'

Should give me the heads up on what to expect when the ConDems' finally get us there

Regret that I've finally given up on 'David Copperfield' 2/3 of the way in (so about 450 pages in). I had to put it down for a while because of circumstances, and sadly I just haven't been able to get into it again. And I love Dickins.

D-DAY Dorset, all basically as the title says preparation for the invasion.

Also reading Band of Brigands all about the first tanks in WW1 the developement etc. Luckily Bovington is only a few miles away. A great day out if you get the chance.

stuck on detective fiction at the moment and this is lots of fun. A hopeful follow on to Rebus.
james

Hiroshima, the Manhattan project and Enola Gay all one book .

Lined up for the holidays:

Bought this today!

Recently finished this. An interesting take on the music scene, whilst living in a council flat in the East End and occasionally driving a tube train! Seems well sorted now, drug and alcohol free, and living in Manchester suburbs.

Regards

Nic

i read alot of military history and this is the latest

Blenheim

Looking for ways of improving my golf!

Dunkirk- fight to the last man by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore.

James Frey - A Million Little Pieces

One man's descent into addiction.

Frey admits to embellishing his past but the reality of his addiction is without equal in it's realism.