READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

[Tripps]

I've been following this lady for a while now. Looked yesterday, and was attracted to the book she shows at about 18.30 into the video.

Sarah's Graveyard

Checked it out on Abe, and I've pushed the boat out and bought a first edition in good nick. I think it's the most I've ever paid for any book though.

Some days you have to "wear purple".

[Stanley]

Good luck with it David!

[Stanley]

While reading A G Street he relates how a friend of his recommended he start writing and gave him a book as an example. The year was 1930, the book was called 'Corduroy' and the author was Adrian Bell who told the story of how in 1920 he left London's Chelsea and went to work on a Suffolk Farm.
I bought the book and have it now. I like the idea of reading the same book Mr Street did almost 100 years ago.

[Tripps]

Sadly I won't be getting the reckless purchase recommended by Sarah's Graveyard. The dealer told me last night it was sold in May and he forgot to delete it from his list. I'll get over it.

[MickBrett]

Just finished this book and thought it was a good read.

https://tinyurl.com/4mnzvmzn

[Stanley]

Susan has AG Street and Corduroy. I am slumming at the moment with a Dan Brown book just to keep me in practice for the next real read which is a history of the Albigensian Crusade....

[MickBrett]

I'm around half way through The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

Very good up to now.

Amazon

Next up will be Miracle In The Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home

Amazon

[Stanley]

Private Eye is top of the pile at the moment.

[Tripps]

Lost its bite I'd say.

I've just ordered 'Jeffrey Archer - Stranger Than Fiction', by Michael Crick. Interest re kindled by the fact that he was 'thick as t*****s' with one Nadim Zahawi some time ago. I don't think that registered last time I read it (as a library book). Zahawi hadn't climbed the greasy pole to wealth then, but he's definitely from the same mould as Archer. They ran a 'charity' for Kurdish refugees.

Fun to see a full record of all the books I've bought - I thought I might have got it already - but no I hadn't. Earliest record was from 2004 !

PS.
Find that the Wikipedia entry for Archer covers much of the Crick book in an abbreviated form. Curious that whilst Broosk Saib is mentioned, the other Kurd - Minister for Education Nadim Zahawi is nowhere to be seen. They were close at the time and said to have been nicknamed Lemon Kurd and Bean Kurd. That's probably a hate crime nowadays.

[Stanley]

Interesting David. As I am sure you are aware Private Eye did a piece about him that was quite revealing, I wonder if he'll sue?
Worth mentioning here that in the last issue PE did a piece called Profits of Doom, a big article uncovering many of the cosy and very profitable arrangements between the government's chums and the NHS in procurement. Billions of pounds swilling around. It also covers the subsidies we are paying to private medicine and their hospitals. Read it and weep for probity and principle....

[Stanley]

I'm happy to report that I am reading a serious book at last! We have a good bookshop in Barlick now and I found a copy of 'Massacre at Montsegur. A history of the Albigensian Crusade' by Zoe Oldenbourg. I've started on it over Xmas.
I've always been interested in the Crusades and over the years have read a lot and learned about some of the reasons behind them. I learned that the Pope gave anyone who went on Crusade Absolution against sin and in effect the crusaders believed they had a 'get out of gaol free card' which meant they were in no danger of passing through purgatory, the waiting room for all souls before they were judged for heaven or hell. Knowing what a universal belief purgatory was meant that this made sense as a motive.
There was another advantage to Crusade that I wasn't aware of until I started to read this book. Anyone who went on Crusade was protected from being harried by creditors as his goods were held to be sacrosanct for the whole per4iod of his absence. This meant that the larger part of the the crusading army were either sinners anxious to gain God's pardon and escape purgatory or debt-ridden wretches escaping their creditors.
There was a third category in this case. Many of the volunteers for this crusade were already sworn for crusade to the Holy Land and the Albigensian crusade was to the mountains of the Languedoc (LINK) In the South of France which was a far easier enterprise.
So, there you go, you can always learn something and as I know nothing about this crusade against the Cathars (who were Christians!) (LINK) and I'm looking forward to learning about them. It reinforces my deep mistrust of the actions of the crusading Popes.

[PanBiker]

Not a read but a Ridley Scott take on some of the actions and attitudes of the times can be found in his film drama "Kingdom of Heaven". Often found on the TV of late if you haven't seen it.

[Tripps]

purgatory, the waiting room for all souls before they were judged for heaven or hell

I think your theology is a bit rusty there. You'll be better informed when you've finished the book.

I casually watched a programme on the Smithsonian channel last week on the subject. Saladdin and all that. Very interesting.

[Stanley]

Not too far astray David, using a broad brush I think. Have a look at THIS.

[Tripps]

the waiting room for all souls before they were judged for heaven or hell.

That's the bit that doesn't fit - I'd say. Certainly not what was taught at St Margaret Mary's in the 1940's

Nice to be able to read that in its entirety and be confident that it is all totally untrue.
Just a mechanism for some to gain control over others.

Even nicer to know that saying that will not result in me being executed in a very nasty manner.

[Stanley]

You were of course taught by the experts so I will defer to you. However, I would point out that one of the main reasons why the early Protestants rebelled against Catholicism was the fact that this 'purgatory', which the church was using as a nice little earner via the sale of 'Indulgences', is not mentioned anywhere in scripture but seems to be a construct of Mother Church.
As you say:- "Nice to be able to read that in its entirety and be confident that it is all totally untrue. Just a mechanism for some to gain control over others. " Nice to know that the brainwashing didn't work!
In the Albigensian Crusade it appears the Pope was politically opposed to the Cathars, a Christian sect older than Catholicism who didn't defer to the Pope's instructions or beliefs. I will learn more as I read....

[Stanley]

Massacre at Montsegur is going well. However Zoe is still instructing me in the theology. At the moment I am deep into heresy and heretics.... It's not an easy read but rewarding, most of this is stuff I knew nothing about!

[plaques]

Quick read over Christmas. To Kill a Mockingbird. Not normally on my reading list but worth the effort. From what we are seeing with Trump and the jerrymandering to minimise the black vote it looks like things haven't changed that much.

[Stanley]

I fear you are right Ken and the voting restrictions that are being imposed in some states hit all the poor. Bit like insisting on photo ID here.

[Gloria]

After reading Stanley’s articles on old Barnoldswick I was reminded of a book by Robert Neill. Robert Neill is best known for Mist Over Pendle but also wrote more, one being The Mills of Colne. It’s a book of fiction based on quite a bit of fact, and well worth a read if you enjoy Stanley’s articles. I ordered it from Eccleston library who I believe got it from an east lancs library.

[Tripps]

I ordered it from Eccleston library

Eccleston triggers a very vague childhood memory in which I was taken to visit a relative there, when I was very young. All I can remember is that it was rural, and the loo didn't flush, and was at the end of the garden. Quite traumatic at a young age.

Haven't solved the puzzle (yet), and to complicate it all there is more than one Eccleston. It's a while since I looked but I think the other is on the Fylde. There are quite a few Tripps around there. Probably never be solved though.

[Gloria]

There is Great Eccleston and Little Eccleston which straddle both sides of the road from Poulton to St Michaels, there’s another Eccleston somewhere near St Helens, and then there’s the one near us which is roughly between Chorley and Croston.

[Tripps]

There is Great Eccleston and Little Eccleston which straddle both sides of the road from Poulton to St Michaels,

I think that must be the one. I've just checked my data and there's a farming family there, with records back to the 1740's from that area.

No idea what the connection to my family is though. Probably never know.

Might look into it further to see if I can find one.

[Stanley]

My present current read on the Albigensian Crusade is a very dry affair but I am pressing on slowly with it. I don't like to be be beaten. (And I'm learning a lot about medieval France....)



Vivary Bridge Mill in 1979.

[Stanley]

The fact that I realised I was spending too much time in front of the screen has meant that I have gone back to reading in the afternoon. The Albigensian Crusade wasn't doing it for me so I went back to another book that had defeated me, The Disappearing Spoon, the book about the periodic table. This time I twigged what it was about so I am working my way through that in the afternoons. Also lined up is another book I didn't get on with. 'Dominion' by C J Samson.
The Disappearing Spoon has some very interesting pieces of information ..... well worth the effort.