17 Comments

Film recommendation: One Hundred Years of Solitude series on Netflix. True to the novel. Eight episodes. Binge it.

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Happy holidays!! I actually started rereading 100 years of solitude and I watched the first two episodes. The cinematography is gorgeous! I need to finish it now!

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Wonderful list. I took many notes. I also read Byung chul Han for the first time last year and loved Psychopolitics. My favorite read this year was Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown. If you're looking for recommendations, I also suggest Italo Calvino's If on a Winters Night a Traveler.

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I love Shalimar the clown! That is one of my favorite books of all times! Kashmir is a place I love so much and Rushdie is a genius!!! Happy happy holidays to you!

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Oh I'm so glad to finally meet someone who's read it! I assume you must have read Enchantress of Florence too?

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Another favorite!! Rushdie is my favorite living writer! I think I have read all of his novels are most of them! Shalimar is in my top three!

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Oh that's wonderful. I cannot believe I read him only last year for the first time, despite being such a fan of magical realism. This year, I read 4 books by him. ☺️

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People say his later works are not as great and I suppose that’s true but I still really enjoyed his last couple of novels. I’m a huge fan!

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Nice list - thank you. I will start with your recommendation on The Life of Tu Fu!

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Happy holidays! I have to warn you that the life of Tu Fu is a poetry collection by Eliot Weinberger…Du Fu is my favorite poet and it is wonderful to read his work alongside Weinberger’s poems. I loved Michael Wood’s In the footsteps in which he travels around China Thinking about the great poet. It’s a perfect travel book.

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Amazing! Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. I will look into them. Leanne - I have been enjoying reading your posts and look forward to learning more. Happy holidays and wishes for a brilliant 2025!

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Happy holidays! I have to warn you that the life of Tu Fu is a poetry collection by Eliot Weinberger…Du Fu is my favorite poet and it is wonderful to read his work alongside Weinberger’s poems. I loved Michael Wood’s In the footsteps in which he travels around China Thinking about the great poet. It’s a perfect travel book.

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Rheingold with LA Philharmonic?

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Yes!!!!

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Love your list! Byung-Chul Han seems interesting as I've been in a mood to read more philosophy again...

As for Händel's Messiah, what a fun coincidence that I recently visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, where it was performed for the very first time. It's a suitably grand cathedral for such a piece, I think. They have the original music score book on display, which I probably stared at for a little too long.

(I'll be releasing my own best books of the year list soon.)

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I think you would love his book on time and maybe the one on ritual because if chanoyu ❤️

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Oh, that is a wonderful that you saw the cathedral! I have always wanted to go there. I’ve never been to Ireland and it’s on my list! It’s so interesting that the Messiah was debuted in Dublin! It’s a fantastic book by the way.

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