The book dialog game - Page 75

orlok · 08-15-2012, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Well, then. It's Iain (M) Banks. But I don't know the book.

Correct. Looks like that's as close as we are going to get, so I'll reveal the book. It's The Wasp Factory, my favourite of his books, a nasty little number that first made his name. I have a signed copy which he personally signed for me at a reading in Birmingham

.

Over to the newly outfitted mouse...

pdurrant · 08-15-2012, 10:34 AM

Augh... now I have to come up with a book that I haven't done before and that isn't too obscure. Let me think...

A book that is as old as I am.

"So who is the judge?" He nodded in the direction of the rabbi, moodily, noting the young man's ill-fitting suit, his rumpled hair, his dusty shoes. "look at him—a boy, like a college kid. I'm practically old enough to be his father, and I should let him try me? [...]"

orlok · 08-15-2012, 10:44 AM

Something by Evelyn Waugh?

pdurrant · 08-15-2012, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlok

Something by Evelyn Waugh?

Not Waugh. It's a mystery novel, the first in a series of a dozen. Here's another description of our hero from about a third of the way through the book.

She nodded. "I know. And maybe some of these critics blame me. A wife should see to her husband. But what can I do? I see that his clothes are neat when he leaves in the morning, but can I follow him around all day? He's a scholar. When he gets interested in a book, nothing else matters. If he feels like lying down to read, he doesn't bother to take off his jacket. When he's concentrating he runs his hands through his hair. So his hair gets mussed and he looks as if he just got up from sleep. When he's studying he makes notes on cards and puts them in his pockets, so that after a while they bulge. He's a scholar, Mr Wasserman. That's what a rabbi is, a scholar. I know what you mean. I know the sort of man the congregation wants. He gets up in a public meeting to give the invocation. He bows his head as though the Almighty were there right in front of him. He shuts his eyes lest His Radiance should blind him, and then speaks in a low, deep voice—not the voice he uses in talking to his wife, but in a special voice, like an actor. My David is no actor. Do you think God is impressed by a low, deep voice, Mr Wasserman?"

WT Sharpe · 08-15-2012, 11:11 AM

I have no idea what book that is, but I love those lines: "He shuts his eyes lest His Radiance should blind him, and then speaks in a low, deep voice—not the voice he uses in talking to his wife, but in a special voice, like an actor. My David is no actor. Do you think God is impressed by a low, deep voice, Mr Wasserman?"

In a similar manner, as a kid I always wondered why God could apparently only understand prayers offered in 17th century English. (That, of course, is simply an observation on the way some people behave in ecclesiastical settings and is in no way intended to be a springboard for a P&R discussion.)

pdurrant · 08-15-2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I have no idea what book that is, but I love those lines: "He shuts his eyes lest His Radiance should blind him, and then speaks in a low, deep voice—not the voice he uses in talking to his wife, but in a special voice, like an actor. My David is no actor. Do you think God is impressed by a low, deep voice, Mr Wasserman?"

Well, I'm pleased to say that the book is available as an ebook. so once someone's guessed it (or I tell you want it is), you can get the sample and see if you'd like to buy it.

For those who haven't checked my profile, the book was first published in 1964.

Next quote tomorrow!

issybird · 08-15-2012, 12:16 PM

One of the rabbi mysteries by Harry Kemelman? The ones with the days of the week in the titles?

HomeInMyShoes · 08-15-2012, 12:22 PM

I checked on the 1964 thing already, but it's nothing I've read.

badgoodDeb · 08-15-2012, 01:58 PM

Yes, it's the first of the Rabbi books. I read it within the last year or so. "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late".

pdurrant · 08-15-2012, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

One of the rabbi mysteries by Harry Kemelman? The ones with the days of the week in the titles?

Quote:

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Yes, it's the first of the Rabbi books. I read it within the last year or so. "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late".

I think issybird takes the prize, even though it took badgoodDeb to get the full title.

Yes, it's the first of the Rabbi David Small books. They are now available in electronic format, so those of you who haven't read any of them, check out the sample of Friday The Rabbi Slept Late.

Over to you, issybird!

issybird · 08-15-2012, 03:51 PM

Let's have badgoodDeb have a go! I'm tapped out.

badgoodDeb · 08-15-2012, 04:05 PM

Oh goodie! I've recognized so few of the books quoted, and usually too late to say anything! Here's mine. No fair googling the name in it!

He said: "If I thought more of myself?"

"You wouldn't have much difficulty in finding it," she answered. "Let's walk." He didn't understand the first phrase, but he turned and went by her side, silent while he heard the words. Much difficulty in finding what? in finding it? the it that could be found if he thought of himself more; that was what he had said or she had said, whichever had said that the thing was to be found, as if Adela had said it, Adela in her real self, by no means the self that went with Hugh; no, but the true, the true Adela who was apart and his; for that was the difficulty all the while, that she was truly his, and wouldn't be, but if he thought more of her truly being, and not of her being untruly away, on whatever way, for the way that went away was not the way she truly went, but if they did away with the way she went away, then Hugh could be untrue and she true, then he would know themselves, two, true and two, on the way he was going, and the peace in himself, and the scent of her in him, and the her, meant for him, in him; that was the she he knew, and he must think the more of himself. A faint mist grew round them as they walked, and he was under the broad boughs of trees, the trees of the Hill, going up the Hill, up to the Adela he kept in himself, where the cunning woman who walked by his side was taking him, and talking in taking. He had been slow, slow, very slow not to see that this was true, that to get away from Hugh's Adela was to find somewhere and somehow the true Adela, the Adela that was his, since what he wanted was always and everywhere his; he had always known that, yet that had been his hardship, for he must know it was so, and yet it hadn't seemed so.

badgoodDeb · 08-15-2012, 05:19 PM

More: (emphasis mine)

He had never heard his heart beating so loudly; almost as if he were inside his own body, listening to it there. It would be louder then, he thought, unless his senses were lulled and dulled. Likely enough that if he were inside his own body his senses would be lulled, though how he got there or how he would get out.... If he wanted to get out. Why? Why fly from that shelter, the surest shelter of all, though he could not be quite there yet because of the hand that guided him, round and round in some twisting path. He knew that there were hundreds of yards, or was it millions, of tubes or pipes or paths or ropes or something, coiled, many coils, in his body; he would not want to catch his foot in them or be twisted up in them; that was why the hand was leading him. He pressed it, for acknowledgment; it replied. They were going downhill now, it seemed, he and his guide, though he thought he could smell Adela, or if not Adela, something like Adela, some growth like Adela, and the image of a growth spread in his brain to trees and their great heavy boughs; it was not a lapping but a rustling; he had come out of himself into a wood, unless he was himself and a wood at the same time. Could he be a wood? and yet walk in it?

<snipped>

They turned together and went down it; after the single footsteps the double sounded again, his own and the magical creature's drawn from his own recesses; she in him, he in him. He was complacent; they went home.

badgoodDeb · 08-15-2012, 05:40 PM

(No, it's not by anyone who has ever been on MR.)
Then again, it's not ALL like the above quotes:

"You have friends; haven't you asked one of them to carry your fear?"

"Carry my fear!" she said, sitting rigid in her chair, so that her arms, which had lain so lightly, pressed now into the basket-work and her long firm hands gripped it as if they strangled her own heart. "How can anyone else carry my fear?"
…

"When you are alone," he said, "remember that I am afraid instead of you, and that I have taken over every kind of worry. Think merely that; say to yourself-'he is being worried,' and go on. Remember it is mine. If you do not see it, well; if you do, you will not be afraid. And since you are not afraid...."

She stood up. "I can't imagine not being afraid," she said.

"But you will not be," he answered, also rising, certainty in his voice, "because you will leave all that to me. Will you please me by remembering that absolutely?"

"I am to remember," she said, and almost broke into a little trembling laugh, "that you are being worried and terrified instead of me?"

"That I have taken it all over," he said, "so there is nothing left for you."

pdurrant · 08-15-2012, 05:43 PM

Sorry, doesn't ring any bells with me.

08-15-2012, 10:34 AM	#1112
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,087 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Augh... now I have to come up with a book that I haven't done before and that isn't too obscure. Let me think... A book that is as old as I am. "So who is the judge?" He nodded in the direction of the rabbi, moodily, noting the young man's ill-fitting suit, his rumpled hair, his dusty shoes. "look at him—a boy, like a college kid. I'm practically old enough to be his father, and I should let him try me? [...]" Last edited by pdurrant; 08-15-2012 at 11:03 AM.

08-15-2012, 01:58 PM	#1119
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,555 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Yes, it's the first of the Rabbi books. I read it within the last year or so. "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late". Last edited by badgoodDeb; 08-15-2012 at 02:01 PM.

08-15-2012, 05:19 PM	#1123
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,555 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	More: (emphasis mine) He had never heard his heart beating so loudly; almost as if he were inside his own body, listening to it there. It would be louder then, he thought, unless his senses were lulled and dulled. Likely enough that if he were inside his own body his senses would be lulled, though how he got there or how he would get out.... If he wanted to get out. Why? Why fly from that shelter, the surest shelter of all, though he could not be quite there yet because of the hand that guided him, round and round in some twisting path. He knew that there were hundreds of yards, or was it millions, of tubes or pipes or paths or ropes or something, coiled, many coils, in his body; he would not want to catch his foot in them or be twisted up in them; that was why the hand was leading him. He pressed it, for acknowledgment; it replied. They were going downhill now, it seemed, he and his guide, though he thought he could smell Adela, or if not Adela, something like Adela, some growth like Adela, and the image of a growth spread in his brain to trees and their great heavy boughs; it was not a lapping but a rustling; he had come out of himself into a wood, unless he was himself and a wood at the same time. Could he be a wood? and yet walk in it? <snipped> They turned together and went down it; after the single footsteps the double sounded again, his own and the magical creature's drawn from his own recesses; she in him, he in him. He was complacent; they went home. Last edited by badgoodDeb; 08-15-2012 at 05:23 PM.

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08-15-2012, 10:44 AM	#1113
orlok Close to the Edit! Posts: 9,797 Karma: 267994408 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"	Something by Evelyn Waugh?

08-15-2012, 11:11 AM	#1115
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I have no idea what book that is, but I love those lines: "He shuts his eyes lest His Radiance should blind him, and then speaks in a low, deep voice—not the voice he uses in talking to his wife, but in a special voice, like an actor. My David is no actor. Do you think God is impressed by a low, deep voice, Mr Wasserman?" In a similar manner, as a kid I always wondered why God could apparently only understand prayers offered in 17th century English. (That, of course, is simply an observation on the way some people behave in ecclesiastical settings and is in no way intended to be a springboard for a P&R discussion.)

08-15-2012, 12:16 PM	#1117
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,359 Karma: 235166015 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	One of the rabbi mysteries by Harry Kemelman? The ones with the days of the week in the titles?

08-15-2012, 12:22 PM	#1118
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	I checked on the 1964 thing already, but it's nothing I've read.

08-15-2012, 03:51 PM	#1121
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,359 Karma: 235166015 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	Let's have badgoodDeb have a go! I'm tapped out.

08-15-2012, 04:05 PM	#1122
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,555 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Oh goodie! I've recognized so few of the books quoted, and usually too late to say anything! Here's mine. No fair googling the name in it! He said: "If I thought more of myself?" "You wouldn't have much difficulty in finding it," she answered. "Let's walk." He didn't understand the first phrase, but he turned and went by her side, silent while he heard the words. Much difficulty in finding what? in finding it? the it that could be found if he thought of himself more; that was what he had said or she had said, whichever had said that the thing was to be found, as if Adela had said it, Adela in her real self, by no means the self that went with Hugh; no, but the true, the true Adela who was apart and his; for that was the difficulty all the while, that she was truly his, and wouldn't be, but if he thought more of her truly being, and not of her being untruly away, on whatever way, for the way that went away was not the way she truly went, but if they did away with the way she went away, then Hugh could be untrue and she true, then he would know themselves, two, true and two, on the way he was going, and the peace in himself, and the scent of her in him, and the her, meant for him, in him; that was the she he knew, and he must think the more of himself. A faint mist grew round them as they walked, and he was under the broad boughs of trees, the trees of the Hill, going up the Hill, up to the Adela he kept in himself, where the cunning woman who walked by his side was taking him, and talking in taking. He had been slow, slow, very slow not to see that this was true, that to get away from Hugh's Adela was to find somewhere and somehow the true Adela, the Adela that was his, since what he wanted was always and everywhere his; he had always known that, yet that had been his hardship, for he must know it was so, and yet it hadn't seemed so.

08-15-2012, 05:40 PM	#1124
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,555 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	(No, it's not by anyone who has ever been on MR.) Then again, it's not ALL like the above quotes: "You have friends; haven't you asked one of them to carry your fear?" "Carry my fear!" she said, sitting rigid in her chair, so that her arms, which had lain so lightly, pressed now into the basket-work and her long firm hands gripped it as if they strangled her own heart. "How can anyone else carry my fear?" … "When you are alone," he said, "remember that I am afraid instead of you, and that I have taken over every kind of worry. Think merely that; say to yourself-'he is being worried,' and go on. Remember it is mine. If you do not see it, well; if you do, you will not be afraid. And since you are not afraid...." She stood up. "I can't imagine not being afraid," she said. "But you will not be," he answered, also rising, certainty in his voice, "because you will leave all that to me. Will you please me by remembering that absolutely?" "I am to remember," she said, and almost broke into a little trembling laugh, "that you are being worried and terrified instead of me?" "That I have taken it all over," he said, "so there is nothing left for you."

08-15-2012, 05:43 PM	#1125
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,087 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Sorry, doesn't ring any bells with me.

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