Ataraxia

  England, Their England by Archibald Gordon Macdonell is included among The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read https://www.theguardian.com/books/200... and on Realini’s Top 100 Comedies, a book you must read indeed http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... 10 out of 10 In my humble view, this is a Magnum opus that will delight any reader that has an open mind and some sense of humor – indeed, it is considered to be one of the 1,000 books we all must read, and seeing that it is a comedy, it could be taken even further to the top, if that is the favorite genre, and it probably is for most audiences – and it is ever so remarkable, if we consider that a good many pages, a whole chapter is dedicated to…cricket, and most of us have no idea about this complicated game… Which means we do not get the humor, those of us that live outside the Anglo- Saxon world and are unfamiliar with its attitudes - even if we have read the chef d’oeuvre Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by magical Angus Wilson http://rea...

  Gran Canary by A.J. Cronin   Normally, Gran Canary and Cronin would not be on my to-read list. Yes, Gran Canaria (in Romanian, as I listened to a Romanian adaptation) sounds appealing, distant and enticing. I have been travelling for too long. When an island is mentioned, I feel like going there…for good. Greece is a place where I would park indefinitely, in Corfu, or another island: Crete, Santorini. Another island, in the Caribbean, but it could Mauritius, Maldives- I am not sure about Vanuatu, but Tahiti sounds nice. Once you settle there, you discover the problems. In Gran Canary, there is an outbreak of fever, but without that, Ed Diener in his book on happiness explains that the islands sound thrilling before you get there. A period of a few weeks is all right, but a longer stay makes you notice the power cuts, the expensive life, due to the difficult access to most of these places. It is not just the islands, the Californian myth was proven to be just that: Daniel Gil...

  The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding was adapted for the big screen as The Reckless Moment – you find thousands of notes on films from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made and other lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   8 out of 10   James Mason https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/lolita-screenplay-written-by-vladimir.html was one of the best thespians, his role as Humbert Humbert is memorable, albeit we could argue that Peter Sellers might have stolen the show, or the spotlight, with the bizarre character that takes the teenage girl away   Lucia Harper portrayed by Joan Bennett has the most important role to play in the narrative, Martin Donnelly aka James Mason would be just a supporting presence, when set against the mother and wife that dominates the scene, she has all the virtues of an Übermensch and more, courage, resilience, altruism Indeed, all the ...

    https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-belles-lettres-papers-by-charles.html   Hard reviewer John Simon or soft Anthony Burgess link Burgess is good at real masterpieces but not fake ones – he does not say they’re fake, he just uses his fake voice then they decide to have him review Norman Mailer’s massive Eguptian oeuvre and Margin says get a wire off to Tony soonest, he calls them by first name Who the twenty five best writers in America are in response to Tool wanting Blles Lettres to award the Nobel prize… Mrs Tooling Frank Page narrator had the idea but he was jesting, being ironic Paul Bowles and Alice Walker the only two I know on one list Most familiar on another James Baldwin John Cheever, Alison Lurie, William Maxwell, Joan Didion, Kerouac, Robert Penn Warren, Salinger, Thornton Wilder Another, Chuckle, named himself as one of the 25 Frank and Margin decide they will come up with the list, they struggle over Donald Bartheleme, Th...

  The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich was awarded The 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it is ranked 6203 rd on The Greatest Books of All Time, and I was just thinking, if I were to use AI to compile a list of my own, it might have the same position; on my blog, you have a multitude of reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other sites https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   7 out of 10   Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-anti-death-league-by-kingsley-amis.html said that ‘he had previously thought of the Booker as a rather trivial, showbizzy sort of caper, but now considered it a very serious, reliable indication of literary merit…’ I wonder about The Pulitzer   I was wondering about AI, and how it could design the lists of favorite books, food, films, etc. seeing that it (or should I use he/her/they?) already knows so much about everything, perhaps the r...

  Lovely, Dark Deep by Joyce Carol Oates was shortlisted for The 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Literature; Joyce Carol Oates is one of the two writers who have been nominated for this award four times, the other is Philip Roth – you could check my blog for more reviews https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html   9 out of 10   Joyce Carol Oates https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/mastiff-by-joyce-carol-oates-is-second.html is one of two writers to be nominated four times for The Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and the collection Lovely, Dark, Deep is one of the four oeuvres, I have been first mesmerized by Black Water, a fabulous novel…   Which is based on fact, senator Kennedy has been involved in an accident, in which his lover was killed, a film was made about this, the car was driven into the Black Water, the man may have been drunk, this is how I recall it, but I may be wrong, then he did not do much, i...