The Upside of Highland
While I prefer to post only when I have something to say, I've been poked so here you go.
I've suspended my year-long reading of A Terrible Beauty (I'm at post-modernism!) for The Upside of Down, or as Matt called it, Mr. Up Goes Down. It's a weird mix of popular and academic, as though a pop writer were accessing academic sources - with passion, yes. Unlike some books I've come across lately, the endnotes are nicely done, giving sources as well as stimulating bits of information that might break up the narrative too much for a general audience if they were in the body of the text. Like a lot of books I've been reading lately, though, there's no bibliography. Do I have to say how frustrating this is? I'm just not going to look through the endnotes to try to find the last citation (sorry, no), so I end up with a lucky glance at the right endnote or no source at all.
So far the book seems to be pimping two things: a grassroots liberal-humanist approach to the coming crises, and the forum at www.theupsideofdown.com. As for the reality of the coming crises, if not their nature, you are preaching to the choir. Well, thurifer, in my case.
So that's the first three and a half chapters of The Upside of Down. It's even bumped The Mysteries of Udolpho from the place beside my pillow, for now. I tend to read half a book and then leave it for a while, but I'm hoping to get straight through this one. It's fun cafe reading, anyway.
My other experiment is Old Pultenay scotch. It's a "maritime" highland single malt, and it's a little cheaper than Peat Monster at the LB. I mostly bought it for the cool seaside scene on the tube. I find it too clean and smooth - I'd rather drink, say, Gentleman Jack if I'm not drinking Laphroaig - but when I was wanting a drink today at work (...) it was this kind of taste I was wanting. It may yet become a preference, since there is a sweetish medicinal taste to it. Anyway, that's my rambling about scotch.
I've suspended my year-long reading of A Terrible Beauty (I'm at post-modernism!) for The Upside of Down, or as Matt called it, Mr. Up Goes Down. It's a weird mix of popular and academic, as though a pop writer were accessing academic sources - with passion, yes. Unlike some books I've come across lately, the endnotes are nicely done, giving sources as well as stimulating bits of information that might break up the narrative too much for a general audience if they were in the body of the text. Like a lot of books I've been reading lately, though, there's no bibliography. Do I have to say how frustrating this is? I'm just not going to look through the endnotes to try to find the last citation (sorry, no), so I end up with a lucky glance at the right endnote or no source at all.
So far the book seems to be pimping two things: a grassroots liberal-humanist approach to the coming crises, and the forum at www.theupsideofdown.com. As for the reality of the coming crises, if not their nature, you are preaching to the choir. Well, thurifer, in my case.
So that's the first three and a half chapters of The Upside of Down. It's even bumped The Mysteries of Udolpho from the place beside my pillow, for now. I tend to read half a book and then leave it for a while, but I'm hoping to get straight through this one. It's fun cafe reading, anyway.
My other experiment is Old Pultenay scotch. It's a "maritime" highland single malt, and it's a little cheaper than Peat Monster at the LB. I mostly bought it for the cool seaside scene on the tube. I find it too clean and smooth - I'd rather drink, say, Gentleman Jack if I'm not drinking Laphroaig - but when I was wanting a drink today at work (...) it was this kind of taste I was wanting. It may yet become a preference, since there is a sweetish medicinal taste to it. Anyway, that's my rambling about scotch.
posted by Dice at 5:18 p.m.
2 Comments:
Well, if you're craving not-smooth and not-sweet at some point, I am still planning on bringing a little Green Fairie with me when I make it down there, whenever that might be.
Grassroots liberal-humanist approach hmm? Yeah, that sounds like a book to be preaching to the converted, at least amongst the people we know. When was it written (ie, how recent are the crises it discusses)? Canadian author or no?
There is something else you could bring whenever you come, maybe if I sent you a cheque ahead of time and you have time to look and things... Would you be willing to run my rum? I can ask someone else or just suffer if it's a hassle.
Yeah, that's how I'd describe it, anyway. He is Canadian, from T.O., I think, and won the G.G.'s prize for non-fiction a while back. It's new - from October. I wouldn't say it's the most lucid description of what's going on, but it seems to be bringing sense to the masses.
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