Ataraxia

  Honolulu by Somerset Maugham – one of my favorite writers, author of Gigolo and Gigolette https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/05/gigolo-and-gigolette-by-somerset.html and other marvelous stories   10 out of 10   Honolulu reminds me of P&O https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/04/p-by-somerset-maugham-his-of-human.html another Tale From The South Seas, in which we can read about superstitions, the mythology of these exotic places, and the way they can spill into reality, that is if we assume the dramas took place   In P&O, we meet this character, Gallagher, on board a ship sailing back to Britain, he had been a planter in the Far East, Indonesia or some island nearby, I remember well, and this is where he had a native woman as partner, for many years, up to the time when he decides to go ‘home’, and packs his bags and prepares to depart The white man has no intention to take the local mistress with him – indeed, throughout the magic sto...

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  Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke – considered ‘a classic of alien literature’, some say the best book of its author, notwithstanding his much more popular 2001 A Space Odyssey https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/2001-space-odyssey-by-arthur-c-clarke.html   10 out of 10   The spectacular Childhood’s End has been included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, and it has jumped on my very own best 100, or let us say 150 best novels list, not because it is not that good, but with time, I have accumulated many masterpieces that I find exhilarating, and some that are obscure, impregnable   The impression was so strong and overwhelming that I am now changing plans, instead of avoiding Science Fiction, which was (used to say is) not my favorite genre, I will try it, albeit with the best recommended works, of which Non Stop https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/non-stop-by-brian-aldiss-10-out-of-10.html was perfect example In Childhood’s End, the ali...

  The Book Bag by Somerset Maugham – he is one of my favorite writers, author of The Ant and The Grasshopper https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-ant-and-grasshopper-by-somerset.html and other mesmerizing tales   10 out of 10   There is a warning sign in this short story, The Book Bag has in fact one rather incestuous – probably platonic, but still, quite bizarre – relationship, and the one aspect that interests me more, would refer to reading and books, putting the Umberto Eco quote in perspective “The person who doesn’t read lives only one life. The reader lives 5,000. Reading is immortality backwards.” But Maugham brings something else to the game   "Some people read for instruction, which is praiseworthy, and some for pleasure, which is innocent, but not a few read from habit, and I suppose that this is neither innocent or praiseworthy…’ the narrator is of the latter category, and I presume that there is a habit that I have formed as well, ...

  The Colonel’s Lady by William Somerset Maugham - - one of my favorite writers, author of Rain https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/06/rain-by-william-somerset-maugham-i-have.html and other fabulous stories   10 out of 10   The Colonel’s Wife is not just a mesmerizing tale – all the works of Somerset Maugham are for yours truly – but it is also somehow feminist, and let me be ‘the one telling you how it is’, just like Chili Palmer in Get Shorty https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/get-shorty-by-elmore-leonard-aka.html and I am joking, evidently   Nevertheless, what we have here is a man, the colonel from the title, who is made to look ludicrous, with his retrograde (but almost fully embraced at the time, some one hundred, or maybe one hundred and fifty years ago) views, he is convinced that there are (most, or all) things that men can do, but women are prohibited It all starts when he sees his wife, Eva Peregrine, receiving a package, which contai...

  Rats by MR James   8 out of 10   “Rats” is a short ghost story by the British author M.R. James. It was first published in the March 23, 1929 issue of the magazine At Random. The story revolves around a young man named Mr. Thomson, who is the sole guest at a small seaside inn. One sunny afternoon, Thomson decides to explore the inn’s other bedrooms. He discovers that only one room has a locked door. Inside that room, he finds a bed with a completely covered human form on it. The head is covered, as if the person were dead, but the form is moving…’   The above is what Copilot gives you, the Artificial Intelligence available with edge, Microsoft’s search engine, and it looks like I will start my notes with whatever this pilot brings out, because then I can relax and get off on my tangents, with the assurance that the essence is already on the page, provided by an entity with higher IQ Consolation might be provided by the idea that they do not have EQ, E...

The Mesmeric Mountain by Stephen Crane – who died at twenty-eight and he is the author of the acclaimed The Red Badge of Courage   9 out of 10   “The Mesmeric Mountain” is a short story by Stephen Crane. It tells the tale of a little man who sits on a pine-plumed hillock, contemplating a mysterious black opening in the forest. He wonders where it leads and becomes fixated on discovering its destination. The story unfolds with an air of mystery and fantastical elements, leaving readers intrigued. If you’d like to explore more of Crane’s work, you can find this story in the collection “Men, Women, and Boats” alongside other lesser-known pieces. 🌲📖’ this is what AI tells you   It is getting exciting to use Artificial Intelligence, in the form of Copilot from Microsoft in my case, I ask it to summarize, and this is what it found for Mesmeric Mountain, better than anything I can put up; indeed, it looks as if I will rely on Copilot for my ‘reviews’, putting the l...

  A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf – author of To The Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway, both included on the Top 100 Best Books of All Time list   9 out of 10   ‘Certainly! “A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf is a captivating short story that both adheres to and subverts the conventions of the ghost story genre. Let me summarize it for you…’ this is what Microsoft’s Copilot told me when I asked it about this short story, hence, it would be better to ask your version of AI assistant   If you choose to continue here, for whatever reason, you will not get the accurate, short, comprehensive, to the point answers, instead, this is going off on a tangent, due to the association I made in my mind between ghosts, and the experience I have had not with the apparitions, but with some kind of ‘spiritism’ I have never seen a ghost, although there has been the odd UFO, one near the Danube, maybe another on top of the Clabucet, but we have met an artist that was into th...

  The Fall of Edward Barnard by Somerset Maugham – one of my favorite writers, author of Jane https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/04/jane-by-somerset-maugham-author-of.html and other wonderful stories   10 out of 10   The Fall of Edward Barnard reminds me of The Ant and The Grasshopper, the fable by Aesop, which was re imagined by William Somerset Maugham, in this re-telling, the ant is no longer the unequivocal positive figure, the one we venerate for her hard work, good sense, resilience, and we see the downside of her attitude   The ant looks down at the grasshopper, who is enjoying time, somewhat, or completely reckless in the first version, telling him he has to work, for in winter there will be no warm days, he will need food, and the rest of it, which makes sense on so many levels, though not on all, there is Carpe Diem to consider and Serenity Now! ‘Happiness Activity No 9: Savoring Life’s Joys-paying close attention, taking delight in life...

  Memoirs of A Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen – this is included on The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, The Comedy Section   8 out of 10   ‘Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf” is a historical novel by David Madsen. It’s set during the transition between the 15th and 16th centuries and follows the life of Giuseppe “Peppe” Amadonelli, a dwarf from Rome who becomes a chamberlain and confidant of Pope Leo X while also being an adherent of Gnosticism. The book gives a vivid portrayal of Renaissance Italy, including the Vatican, the papacy, and various aspects of society at that time…’ this is what Artificial Intelligence will tell you, as Copilot, and the best thing on this page   Indeed, spoiler alert, you should keep the above and forget the rest, it is not worth your time, first, because I did not really like the novel enough to get beyond page 98, although I enjoyed the impressive start, there is clearly enough material inside to get pleasure, information, er...