This forum is for talking about non-music-related stuff that the DBT fanbase might be interested in. This is not the place for inside jokes and BS. Take that crap to some other board.
It's not like I was unaware going in, but damn a thousand is a lot of pages, lol. The way I see it, I could have read 3 pretty good to excellent books for the same investment of time as it took to read this one good but flawed book. I"m glad I read it because I really enjoy the series but there was no way it needed to be that long.
I was intrigued by the several mentions of transgender "politics." It seemed to me that Galbraith was attempting to either justify her position or settle scores but i'm not familiar enough with the "scandal" to know which and was not motivated to figure it out. Her use of social media communications was pretty clever and inventive, probably the best I've seen, but man oh man was it hard to read (up to 3 vertical columns on a page).
Worth reading if you're a fan of the series or of Rowling and probably worth reading if you're a fan of good mystery writing but just be aware you'll be making a significant commitment lol.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
It's not like I was unaware going in, but damn a thousand is a lot of pages, lol. The way I see it, I could have read 3 pretty good to excellent books for the same investment of time as it took to read this one good but flawed book. I"m glad I read it because I really enjoy the series but there was no way it needed to be that long.
I was intrigued by the several mentions of transgender "politics." It seemed to me that Galbraith was attempting to either justify her position or settle scores but i'm not familiar enough with the "scandal" to know which and was not motivated to figure it out. Her use of social media communications was pretty clever and inventive, probably the best I've seen, but man oh man was it hard to read (up to 3 vertical columns on a page).
Worth reading if you're a fan of the series or of Rowling and probably worth reading if you're a fan of good mystery writing but just be aware you'll be making a significant commitment lol.
Ya, it was a slog. Least of the series, IMHO. The vertical columns thing drove me crazy (crazier).
I was looking for a used copy of Ehrenreich's Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy (also highly recommended) when this book got in my face:
It is one hell of a memoir of her [spoiler alert!] inconclusive search for The Other. Give it a read.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be
What the heck, John A??!! Did you actually read books by black authors in months other than February? How subversive!
I'm a rebel. The question of whether our choir should be performing spirituals came up, so I took the opportunity to revisit Cone and learn Thurman.
When I was in Paris about 10 days ago, there were still posters up advertising a tour by a "real, authentic" Black American gospel choir, including a performance at a church on Christmas Day. If the number of posters and the number of advertised appearances were any indication, there was a lot of interest,
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
I'm a rebel. The question of whether our choir should be performing spirituals came up, so I took the opportunity to revisit Cone and learn Thurman.
When I was in Paris about 10 days ago, there were still posters up advertising a tour by a "real, authentic" Black American gospel choir, including a performance at a church on Christmas Day. If the number of posters and the number of advertised appearances were any indication, there was a lot of interest,
I'm sure there was. But it's a little different when an all-white choir is singing to a nearly all-white audience. Those particular songs came out of the harrowing experience of slavery--the sorrow songs, DuBois (my next author to read) called them. They deserve extra care in performance.
Oddly enough, I feel differently about the songs that have been cycled through the popularization process of the gospel blues. They've become seculars rather than spirituals at that point, for me. The song in question for us is Trimmed and Burning. Here's what I thought:
We had an interesting discussion at practice about "Trimmed and Burning" last Wednesday. I'd been thinking about the song, which is a great favorite of mine. So I decided to organize what I knew and thought I knew about it. Turns out I know a narrow lot.
What I think I know: This song can be traced back to an older song, "Don' Git Weary", which was in the repertoire of the Fisk singers as early as 1874. I still haven't found that recording on line. Its first appearance I can find as "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" is Blind Willie Johnson's version in 1928: . It's sung as a duet with Johnson's wife, Billie Harris.
It next turns up (for me and my limited research abilities) in the late fifties, but I assume the song was being played in the meantime. The most known version is (probably) Rev. Gary Davis' version from 1956: . Mississippi Fred McDowell recorded it in 1959, but it's Davis' version which is the base from which most later blues versions grow, most likely because Davis was also a teacher with a who's-who list of students.
Other things were happening as well. The song "Children, Don't Get Weary" also kept being performed. Here's an awesome version from Bessie Griffin and the Gospel Pearls in 1959: . It's notable that when Jesus is crucified in this song, he is "hung upon a tree". Those of us who know James Cone's "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" aren't surprised by that detail.
"Children, Don't Get Weary" next turns up in the movie Up Tight, set against the backdrop of Martin King's murder. Judy Clay is backed here by Booker T & the MG's. I gather this song has been sampled and used in something more current. Again, a man dies "upon a tree", but it's not clear to me who the man is--Jesus, King, or a character in the movie:
About this time the band Hot Tuna was becoming popular. Their version of "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" is the one I imprinted on, specifically this version: . It's very much Rev. Davis' version arranged for a band and, much as I love unadorned folk blues and country blues, it remains my personal favorite. That's not a critical judgement on anything but perhaps my own tastes.
The version that's currently best known is, I think, the Trucks-Tedeschi version, simply because they are touring continually and playing it. It goes back to the Blind Willie Johnson version: .
And finally, what has a good chance of becoming my new favorite version, because it's completely new! It makes me want to pick my bass back up. I don't know who Ange Smith and Don Mayberry are, but they just kill me: . Dig how much they squeeze into less than three minutes! I'm on the lookout for this record now. So I've learned at least one thing.
I think "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" is, or has become, a separate song from "Children, Don't Get Weary". "Children" is more a spiritual than anything else.
"Trimmed and Burning" has a double identity. It's a gospel blues in one arrangement and it's a spiritual in another. "Trimmed and Burning" has, in various versions, the "work" being done and the "world" being done. Both seem authentic to me, and there are other versions. There's one place where we might think about what we really need this song to say. There may be others. The song bears a certain amount of variation without losing its heart.
Some of this I knew, or kind of knew, and some of it is totally new to me—just like this song being a spiritual is new to me just this year! I wish I knew more about the history of this song's choral arrangements. I'm lost outside the world of popular music.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be
Received a copy of this as a gift, and have been reading over the last few weeks. Finally finished it yesterday. I don’t have much to add apart from what’s already been discussed, but I thought it was very well written and worth the time.
I’ve also been reading a lot of Steinbeck lately. For some reason In Dubious Battle stood out as a particularly affecting novel, and more relevant than ever.
The question of whether our choir should be performing spirituals came up, so I took the opportunity to revisit Cone and learn Thurman.
