A few words from Amitav Ghosh's Ghost-Eye which should scare the shit out of you.

 

And by the way, this is a Great, Must-Read novel...no matter what that stupid mother fucker at The Guardian says.

DDR: Twenty-Two Stories by J.D. Salinger

Day 1 (DDRD 3,234) September 10, 2026

Read to page 43.

I was tempted to continue reading Hungarian Stuff, but this arrived in the mail and that was that.

J.D. Salinger published one novel and 35 short stories. 13 of those short stories were collected in book form. The other 22 were Out There for the intrepid reader, but were not easy to find. When I was 18 and attending Catonsville Community College in Baltimore, I found a couple of those stories on microfilm, and spent quite a few hours copying them by hand.  I still have them around here somewhere. Later on in life, I started tracking down the original publications and xeroxing copies of the stories. I'm pretty sure that I ended up finding all of them, but I have no idea where those are now. I'm not really a thrower-outer, so I probably still possess them, but it would take Heinrich Schliemann and his friends to unearth them.

Enter 

296 pages of teeny tiny print. I've read some of these previously, but I'm really anxious to one fell swoop this. 

1. "The Young Folks": A girl talks to a guy at a party. Mostly dialogue.  👎 

2. "Go See Eddie": an abusive brother orders his sister to go see Eddie. Mostly dialogue.  👎

3. "The Hang of It": a young soldier fucks up. Mostly dialogue. 👎

4. "The Heart of aBroken Story": a young guy fantasizes about a pretty girl he sees on the bus. Mostly narration and letters. 👎

5. "The Long Debut of Lous Taggett": a girl marries an abusive husband. They divorce. She marries again--a nice man. They have a baby. The baby smothers in its crib. Mostly narration. 👎

So...none of these first 5 stories were very good at all, and I can understand why Salinger didn't want them to be collected. 

P.S. Read one more: 

6. "Personal Notes of an Infantryman": very short...which is a blessing. Terrible story with a confusing ending.  👎 👎

Day 2 (DDRD 3,235) September 11, 2026

Read to page 84.

You know, I really want to read all of these stories, and my love for J. D. Salinger's writers is undiminished, but (1) six bad stories in a row and (2) I've been reading Ghost-Eye on the side, and it is excellent and I want to spend more time reading it.

7. "The Varioni Brothers": at last...a decent story. Not great, mind you, but at least decent. A songwriting brother duo finds success at the expense of the lyricist's novel writing. 👌

8. "Both Parties Concerned": not as good as "The Varioni Brothers," but almost. A small story about a young couple who have a fight. The narrator had Holden Caulfield's voice...a bit too much of it, actually.  👌-ish.

9. "Soft-Boiled Sergeant": a really bad title for a pretty good story about a flint-faced but kind-hearted soldier. And another Holden-kind of narrator.  👌

10. " The Last Day of the Last Furlough ": a very touching story about two young men who will be going off to war in the morning. One of the two, one is Vincent Caulfield, whose younger brother, Holden, is missing in action. Which doesn't fit with the Holden we know from The Catcher in the Rye, but some other stuff, like getting kicked out of school, does. So that was a thrill. 👍

Day 3 (DDRD 3,236) September 12, 2026

Read to page 118.

11. "Once a Week Won't Kill You": I was sure this was an early version of " A Perfect Day For Bananafish" at first, but no. Seemed very See More Glass, though. Not much of a story here: a guy days good-bye to his aunt before he leaves for the war. So...👌

12. "A Boy in France": Babe, from " The Last Day of the Last Furlough," appears again. He's in the war now. This is a very slight bit of story: Babe gets in a fixhole, reads a letter, and falls asleep. That's it.   👎

13. "Elaine": a story about a beautiful girl who seems to be mentally retarded. She goes to the beach with a sketchy guy she later marries. There's a row at the reception between mother and mother-in-law. The end.  👎

14. " This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise ": Another Vincent Caulfield story, and mentions of Holden (who's still misding in action) and Phoebe. Another story devoid of plot: 34 soldiers ride in a truck to a dance. It's raining. We don't see them arrive.  👎

DDR: The Adventures of John Háry Hungarian Hussar by István Tamás

 

I've known about this István Tamás book for quite awhile, but the only copy I could find was listed on eBay for $50. 

And despite my great love for István Tamás, that was just too much for me. 

But this year my big sister (who is literally a rocket scientist) sent me a big Big check for my birthday, and I decided to buy stuff that was beyond my usual limit.

It arrived yesterday, just as I finished István's Sergeant Nikola. That has to be a sign, right?

A mere 114 pages...and lots of illustrations...so i dont think will take long.

Let's see.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,233) September 9, 2026

Read to page 114. Yep.

87 year old book given as a Christmas present 79 years ago. Yowza.

And our survey says...it wasn't available very good book, I'm sorry to say. And not because it was a children's book. Because it wasn't a good children's book. (Though the illustrations were amusing.)

The last page broke my little heart, though:

There's another one Out There. 

And I can't find it.

😔 

Stoned Thought #19

 

I finally understand why people watch college football: sometimes the NFL isn't there when you need it.

133

While I was driving my daughter back to her apartment, my youngest son called me. He'd been bowling. I asked him how he'd done, and he said, "Good." Normally I'd have left it at that, but since we have to get a couple of more scores in to qualify for the Special Olympics regionals, I asked him what his score was. He said, "133." As he said it I looked to my right and saw a sign hanging above the breakdown lane that said Something Something 133. I did a double-take. Yep, 133. And then the sign was behind me. I wish that I'd had time to get a picture, but hey, my word is my bond.

DDR: The Siege of Sziget by Miklós Zrinyi Translated by Laszlo Korossy

Is this what I'm about to read? A xxv + 267 ( = 292) page poem about the 33 day siege of the Fortress of Szigetvár by an overwhelming Ottoman army?

...I think so.

I think so.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,228) September 4, 2026

Read to page 23 (End of Part One...of Fifteen Parts).

This is quite a change from Sergeant Nilola, for sure. An epic poem about the Persian attack on a Hungarian fortress. And you'll never guess who started the fight. 

God. 

God was upset with the Hungarians because they had fallen away from Him. So He sent one of his angels to hell to get a demon to go to the Turkish leader to tell him to attack the Hungarians. Kind of a mean take on God, but conversant with the Old Testament.

Not sure about this yet, but I think the reading will go pretty quickly. 🤞

Here's a zinger against the Hungarians / Magyars: "Until they see their own house on fire,  / They do not help the houses of their neighbors." (ll. 44-45)

Kind of sums up us as well, doesn't it?

Day 2 (DDRD 3,229) September 5, 2026

Read to page 86 (end of Part Five).

I thought this was interesting: when Mehmet goes after one of the Hungarian soldiers, having seen that his son had been wounded, Zrinyi makes this comparison: "As when a wild tiger sees her club die, / Both the hunter's net and herself she thrashes." (Part 3, ll. 82-83) Zrinyi goes out of his way to compare the Hungarian soldier to a lioness.  This strikes me as the opposite of misogyny.

And speaking of misogyny here is a question for every Republican member of Congress: "Is it not better to die as a man, / Than to live in shame before the eyes of all?" (ll. 92-93)

Btw: the lioness soldier is Zrinyi, great grandpa to the poet. Warrior Zrinyi also spares the life of one of the Turks, saying that that warrior had fought with great distinction and that for that reason he didn't want to kill him. Interesting perspective.

I've got to say...for a 500 year-old poem about a battle I have never heard of before, this is pretty good stuff.

Now I'm going to read some more.

I AI-ed this close-up a bit...removed some figures for charity's sake...but it's quite arresting, isn't it? T-shirt time, baby.

As a certifiable old man who doesn't have a whole lot of years left on this planet, these lines struck me forcefully: "I have faith that not long this tired-of body / I will leave here, and we will see each other in heaven." (ll. 36-37)

I tell Jacqueline and Joe this regularly. In one of my prayers (yes, I know) I say, "Let them know that they can talk to me anytime they want to, even beyond the limits of this life, and be certain that we will be reunited in the world to come." I want them to feel that my love for them transcends this existence, and that they will never be alone.

Yet another thing the parents of special needs children have to think about regularly: how to console their children about their deaths.

 🤔 

And get this: the warrior who was captured is invited to a victory celebration at the Hungarian castle. There he is told that he is not a captive, but an honored guest. When the Turk offers a huge amount of money for his ransom, Zrinyi replies that he doesn't need the money. He then agrees to exchange the captured Turk for a captured Hungarian warrior of no particular distinction (so far as I can tell).

Who ARE these guys?

Most confusing of all, though: after the battle the Hungarians went to the church and thanked God for their victory. They regularly refer to God's help and thank and praise Him, and yet this whole battle was initiated by and sustained by that God. What the fuck?

Just in case you need to know, there's an opera based on this battle, which you can watch HERE.

There are no English sub-titles, but it's still worth a couple of hours if you have the time.

P.S. Read to page 112. Yowza...that's 89 pages. Kinda makes me want to read 11 more.

P.P.S. Read 17 more, to page 129.

Yep.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,230) September 6, 2026

Read to page 193. 

Two Hungarian soldiers leave the castle and cut through the drunk & sleeping Turks, killing as they go. Eventually they are caught and killed. Then the spirit  / ghost of one of the slain Magyars appears to Deli Vid back in the castle and tells him how he died. Interesting. 

"Authority and mercy are all worthless, / If honor and fear are not the pillars." (Part 11, ll. 18-19)

Day 4 (DDRD 3,231) September 7, 2026

Read to page 235. Hmmm. I'm pretty sure I could finish this off tonight, but it's been a loooong day, so...we'll see.

Day 5 (DDRD 3,232) September 8, 2026

Read to page 267, The End.  And quite a nice little canter it was. The Grand Finale, with God speaking and an army of angels coming down to help the Hungarians, really demands to be put into a movie or an opera or a movie of an opera. Maybe Christopher Nolan neefs a new project?

"This day and this hour is my entire life, / It is polished by my noble actions." (Part 15 ll. 80-81)

"Sheer plod makes plough down sillion shine."

98,666 visits to go!

 

One million or bust.

As the cranberry farmer boys used to say, "Thanks for your support."

Stoned Thought #43

I've never met a woman who didn't expect you to read her mind.

Men are guilty of many, many sins...but not of that one.

DDR: Sergeant Nikola: A Novel of the Chetnik Brigades by István Tamás

9 years ago I read The Students of Spalato and fell in love with István Tamás. I tried to find more of his work, but there wasn't much out there. I finally found another novel--

--and ordered it, but for reasons unknown I never got around to reading it. 

Until today.

311 pages of Hungarian wonderfulness begin to infiltrate my brain today.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,224) August 31, 2026

Read to page 22. 

I'd only read a few (8) pages before I found this:

Which is interesting because just yesterday I found out that István Tamás had written a movie called Cafe Moszkva, (1936), and after searching for it on various platforms I found it on YouTube (HERE) and started watching it. Yet another odd coincidence, my friends.

"...had he been born into a wealthy family, he probably would have been a great musician. But the accident of birth made a shoe-shine boy out of him."  (20)

I don't know if this is going to be the masterpiece that The Students of Spalato was, but even just 22 pages in, I must say that reading this book is just delightful. I really wish there was more István Tamás work out there. In English.

Just to be clear...69 IS too old to learn Hungarian, right?

Day 2 (DDRD 3,225) September 1, 2026

Read to page 75. It's looking like a masterpiece. And it's amazing how effortless it is to read this book. It's more like watching a movie, actually. You just sink into the words, see the scenes play out, and when you look up to blink twenty pages have gone by.

I need more István Tamás in my life.

Of Belgrade, where this novel is set: "Belgrade is one of the most destroyed cities due to its strategic location, which has led to it being battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times throughout its 7,000-year history." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgrade) 

Yowza.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,226) September 2, 2026

Read to page 156. Which--how dud that happen?--is the halfway point.

115 pages in...and not yet finished for the day...and it hits me that just a short while ago, the very able soldier Nikola was a boy and a would-be writer. Talk about growing up fast. And then I remember that once I was a 19 year old soldier, and though not at war, it was often a frightening and stressful slice of life.

Once you've entered Jacqueline's World, there's no escaping Saint Lucy.

I've only been abroad four times--three of them to Ireland--but I have been to Frankfort-am-Main.

"The peasant combs the earth with wooden harrows, like a mother combing her child's snarled hair." (145)

Day 4 (DDRD 3,227) September 3, 2026

Read to page 311, The End. A truly spectacular book. I can't even begin to tell you how much I want to read more from this great writer.

Sigh.

Sindbad's Prayer Vis-à-Vis Women

 

from The Adventures of Sindbad by Gyula Krúdy

To which I can only say... 

A-fuckin-men.

Again, László Krasznahorkai: A Cry For Help

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the 21st Century, right? And my beloved László Krasznahorkai just won the Nobel Prize for Literature, correct? So how is it possible that The Quiet Prophet: László Krasznahorkai's Journey Through Chaos and Grace by Camille F. Arden, which was just published last year, is not available ANYwhere but here:

 

?

I've checked everywhere I can think of, and come up with nothing. 

What the fuck?

DDR: The Adventures of Sindbad by Gyula Krúdy

 

This has been on the Been Meaning To list for a very long time...probably since I first "discovered" Central European Classics, which has turned into one of my favorite imprints. (Some of whose titles have migrated to New York Review Books, another favorite imprint.) 

xxiv + 208 = 232 pages...so a quick one (while he's away).

Day 1 (DDRD 3,220) August 27, 2026

Read to page 20. This hasn't really caught me up yet, but there have been some nice bits of writing, so here's hoping.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,221) August 28, 2026

Read to page 65.

"...he thought of the man whom women had cheated, stolen from and discarded, men whom women had watched with interest, wondering when they would put a bullet through their brains...." (33)

Not very nice (👆), of course, but...you know.

And isn't this lovely?

"Then suddenly her expression brightened and a timid, hopeful smile transformed her whole expression: it was as if two fireflies had raised their wings in the pupils of her eyes." (61-62)

I'm getting into this now. Krúdy has some great, odd descriptions...and some VERy odd plot twists...as when Sinbad dies and chooses to come back as a sprig of a plant. BTW, this book was translated by George Szirtes, who did one of Krasznahorkai's books (maybe more than one).

Day 3 (DDRD 3,222) August 29, 2026

Read to page 101.

Mmm-hmm.

"She almost had more to do with the other world than with the present one…" (97) Said of an old servant who had seen her employer's pass away "one by one." It reminds me of a comment that William Blake's wife said about him:  "I have very little of Mr. Blake's company; he is always in Paradise." Kind of true of my daughter, Jacqueline...and at least a little bit true of me as well.

Sindbad, who is still dead, has returned to visit a former lover. As he is speaking to her we are told that his voice sounded "of leaves and shadow" (98), and when he strokes her brow "she felt it like an autumn breeze." (99) This reminds me of something I say to Jacqueline and Joe. I don't want them to be frightened when I die or to miss me too much, so I tell them that when I die I will go to heaven and that they can still talk to me anytime they want to, but I won't be able to answer them directly. However I will be able to hear them, and I will place my hand on their shoulders, and they'll be able to feel it and know I am there and watching out for them.

😢

Day 4 (DDRD 3,223) August 30, 2026

Read to page 167. So tomorrow is probably going to be it. Although I'm actually wanting to read more today, so today might be it.

"...that long-extinct volcano, his heart...." (126)

I met some friends for coffee this morning. They'd recently returned from a trip to Canada and were talking about the mountains and glaciers they had seen and how beautiful they were. Somewhere in the course of the conversation Craig made reference to tarns ("A tarn (or corrie loch) is a mountain lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque (or "corrie") excavated by a glacier." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarn_(lake) ). After we parted I went home and started reading Sindbad and almost immediately read this:

And I'd never heard or seen this word before Craig mentioned it. Do do do do, do do do do.

"Is it not the case that everyone would soonest hear the story he believes in his heart of hearts, the one where he dreams his own life?" (151)

Day 5 (DDRD 3,224) August 31, 2026

Read to page 208, The End.

"'Life,' thought Sindbad. 'Frivolous, holy, holy and wearisome life! How nice it would be to start again!'applies.

Yep.

"Any man who places his trust in women is a fool...." (178)

Which is of course--as have other previous quotes shared-- more than a little bit misogynistic. And I do sincerely hate misogyny. So why is it that when I read statements like this it causes a tremor of acknowledgment and a chuckle of recognition? Maybe  I've just been unlucky enough to encounter women to whom this applies Come to think of it, though, it applies to every woman I've been romantically involved with. Hmmmm.

On a happier note, this: "What you have loved remains yours: all that caused you unhappiness, that for which you cried in your pillow for, which you died...." (185)

Well...happier....

There were three small sticky notes on the last page of this book:

Kind of hard to read, but it looks more like summary than commentary. Why would someone do that, I wonder?

I think I need more Hungarian in me.

Asimov Fucks Up Again

 

I finished Asimov's Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan this morning, and while it wasn't great, it was good enough for me to think that I'd like to read another Asimov annotated book. These are the others:

Asimov's Annotated Don Juan (1972), Asimov's Annotated Paradise Lost (1974), Familiar Poems, Annotated (1977), Asimov's Annotated Gulliver's Travels (1980), and Asimov's Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan (1988). In the same category but not really "annotated" in that the full text isn't reproduced with the notes are Asimov's Guide to the Bible in two volumes (1968 and 1969) and Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare in two volumes (1970). In the Beginning: Science Faces God in the Book of Genesis (1981) should also be included (though it doesn't look like anyone on the internet has done so) as it comments extensively on the first eleven chapters of Genesis--and also reproduces the text of those chapters. 

So depending on how strict you are with the definition of "annotated" and "volume"), Asimov has between 5 and 10 annotated books. I've read 5 of the 10 so far (       ), and after finishing off G&S I thought I might (please, sir) have some more. I wasn't in the mood for the long works, though, so I had a peek at Familiar Poems, which is available through Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/familiarpoemsann00asim/mode/1up). Or you can buy it for about 60 bucks. 

I opted, as you probably guessed, for Internet Archive. The table of contents included many poems I didn't know, but as the first one listed was "Ozymandias," I had a look at it.

I got to the second annotation and encountered a problem. Well, two problems, actually. 

Problem the First: The "another woman" referred to in the first paragraph is Mary Shelley. This is obvious in the second paragraph when it refers to the fact that she wrote Frankenstein, but why on earth isn't she identified either time by name? Seems to me a bit misogynistic.

Problem the Second: Asimov tells us that "Ozymandias" (which should not be italicized, btw) is a portion of a longer poem entitled "The Revolt of Islam." I was surprised by that as I've been reading this poem for about 50 years and had never heard that before, but being be the wily and suspicious old man that I am, I found the full text of the poem--quite a long one, so I didn't want to read it all--and did several word searches using keywords from "Ozymandias."

No results for any of them.

Inescapable conclusion: Asimov fucked up. Which isn't a huge deal, of course, but this is something that could easily have been checked, even in those pre-internet days. Yet neither Asimov nor his proofreaders(s) nor his editor(s) did so, and that's a sign of laziness which irks me...and undermines my trust in the work. So I decided to put this one back on the shelf, so to speak, and have another think on it tomorrow, when I choose my next Daily Devotional Reading. 

🤔

Um...excuse me, Amazon, but I think something's off here....

 

Hey, Seychelles!

 

Lots of visits* from Seychelles of late. What's up, guys? Thanks for stopping by.

* 1.15K visits in the last week.

Welcome Back, My Friends

2

Picked this up from the library on a whim, as I'm not really all that into Prog music, and know nothing about this David Weigel fellow. But after just a few pages, I was sucked in, and I ended up reading this book in just a few days. It was quite delightful,  chronicling Prog music from Franz Lizst to yesterday at 4 pm. (Thus invalidating, the title.) Lots of interesting characters along the way: ELP, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Adrien Belew, David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, and many, many others. Something for everyone!

Paul Pope! THB!!

I'm sorry to say that it's been a while since I've seen any work by Paul Pope. Thus, I was quite surprised when I ran across an ad for something called Total THB Volume 2. I got to work immediately and found that there were 2 volumes available already and a third volume would be coming in December. I started to order them from Amazon, then thought, "Why the heck am I doing this?" and went to Thrift Books. Both volumes pretty much the same price as they were on Amazon (actually 10 cents cheaper), so placed my order. They're on the way. Details to follow.

😄

There's something happening here...

...what it is ain't exactly clear.

Kielbasa

 

For future reference,  "Four types of kiełbasa made in Poland: biała kiełbasa (white sausage), a slice of kiełbasa krakowska, the thin kabanos (pl. 'kabanos'), and kiełbasa wiejska (farmhouse sausage)."

Slightly altered from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kielbasa .

Coracle

 

Public Domain

This is a coracle.

Why, Delilah?

DDR: Asimov's Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan by Isaac Asimov

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the one hand, I was very anxious to continue reading works about Christianity--and specifically about the Gospel of John, as that 3 volume thing I alluded to in a previous post really was pulling at me. But this morning when I sat down to do some Daily Reading work I felt myself pulled to read A Far Country by Daniel Mason instead, and after an hour or so of that I didn't have it in me to face the Gospel of John. So I poked around idly and thought, "What about Isaac Asimov's book on Gilbert and Sullivan?" (I'm still feeling the regret over not buying this when I saw a copy at Half-Price Books. It was expensive, but less than half of the cheapest price I've seen for it online.) But when I saw the length of it--over 1000 pages!--I thought, "Nope, not that one." But I started to read anyway, and you know what? I think it's that one. We'll find out soon.

It's xiv + 1,056 = 🥁🥁🥁🥁 1,070 pages. But hey, I just finished 1,600 pages on The Death of the Messiah, so...☮🎂!

Day 1 (DDRD 3,184) July 22, 2026

Read to page 21. Actually a bit of fun. Isaac was a pig towards women, and I regret that, but he sure could write. And he's at his best when he's writing about himself...which he essentially is doing here when he's not dropping knowledge.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,185) July 23, 2026

Read to page 60. Shortly after I started today's reading, I realized that I felt very relaxed. Sorry Mr. Brown, but  Death of the Messiah was pretty hard work, and I have to admit that I didn't look forward to it...even though I got a lot out of it and "enjoyed" it.

Finished the first operetta--Thespis. Definitely not a major work but it had its moments. The music for this operetta has been lost, so it cannot be performed today--at least not as intended. Apparently Sullivan re-used at least some of the tunes in later works, however.

"Love's flame is the vilest of arsons...." (42) Fuckin' A, Bubba.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,186) July 24, 2026

Read to page 100. Well...maybe this won't take all that long, then. I spent most of my reading time today finishing A Far Country, but it was still no problem at all to put away 40 pages of this. 😶

Finished Trial by Jury, which was short, but not very sweet. In fact, it was kind of stupid. Yet Asimov tells us that this was the real beginning of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration, and their first big success. Go figure. Started The Sorcerer, which unfortunately does not star Roy Scheider nor feature music by Tangerine Dream.

Day 4 (DDRD 3,187) July 25, 2026

Read to page 142, which finishes The Sorcerer. Which was better than Trial by Jury, but was still far from good. It would probably be better if I listened to the music while I read, but I haven't been doing that. I'll try it with the next one. (Which is H.M.S. Pinafore.)

Day 5 (DDRD 3,188) July 26, 2026

Read to page 172.

Also read all of Stefan Zweig's "A Chess Story." (Which was quite good.)

This time I did listen to the music (H.M.S. Pinafore), and it was a little challenging (pausing for footnotes), but very enjoyable. I may have to go back and listen to The Sorcerer--though I suspect that it won't measure up to the music in H.M.S. Pinafore, which, after the overture, hits the ground with two excellent tunes.

Stopped at 50:54.

Day 6 (DDRD 3,189) July 27, 2026

Read to page 202...which was the end of H.M.S. Pinafore. (1:44:00 on the video, btw.) This was more entertaining than the previous two, for sure...though the best music were the tunes we heard in the first few minutes after the overture. 

Day 7 (DDRD 3,190) July 28, 2026

Read to page 232. 

44:01

Day 8 (DDRD 3,191) July 29, 2026

Read to page 262.  Really wanted to finish The Pirates of Penzance, but didn't sleep well last night and had a hard cardiotherapy session and must stop for a nap.

Day 9 (DDRD 3,192) July 30, 2026

Read to page 268, which was the end of The Pirates of Penzance...the video of which, by the way, can be found HERE.

This one was very silly, especially in this filmed version. But quite enjoyable. I was surprised to see Kevin Kline,  Angela Lansberry, and Linda Ronstadt, all in prominent roles. Linda was magnificent. 

But since 6 pages wasn't enough for a good day's work, I started the next "opera," Patience.

277 / 18:55

P.S. I've also been listening to The Sorcerer. I must say that hearing it is quite a different experience than just reading the words. It's still pretty silly, but it does have some beautiful moments. It can be found HERE.

L 10 (DDRD 3,193) July 31, 2026

Read to page 300 / 41:56.

Day 11 (DDRD 3,194) August 1, 2026

Read to  330 / 1:37:27. I am smitten with Patience. She reminds me of LeAnn Hill...with whom I am also smitten. 😉

Day 12 (DDRD 3,195) August 2, 2026

Read to page 348 (the end of Patience) / 2:04:50. The lovely lass who played Patience was one Kerry Scurr.

Day 13 (DDRD 3,196) August 3, 2026

Read to page 361.  Not much...but I spent most of the day reading (and finishing) Country People. 

Day 14 (DDRD 3,197) August 4, 2026

Read to page 378 / 50:52.

Day 15 (DDRD 3,198) August 5, 2026

Read to page 424 / 1:50:43, end of Iolanthe. I'm not generally a fan of fairy stories, but this one was okay. I did enjoy the social/political commentary--especially on the House of Lords members as being completely unworthy of their positions.

So...next up is Princess Ida, of which I've not previously heard, and then The Mikado, which I've long loved. I am kind of tempted to skip over The Mikado so it will be my last read, but my OCD is not happy with that idea.

Day 16 (DDRD 3,199) August 6, 2026

Read to page 448 (End of Act I) / 32:56. (Of Princess Ida.)

Day 17 (DDRD 3,200) August 7, 2026

Read to page 452 / 41:01  Not much, but a really, REALLY, bad day, so all I had in me.

Day 18 (DDRD 3,201) August 8, 2026

Read to page 482 / 1:27:55. A better day. I actually thought I'd be able to finish this up, but there are still 30 minutes to go and I need to watch Caitlin Clark and The Fever.

Day 19 (DDRD 3,202) August 9, 2026

Read to page 507--The End.

Hey, look! It's the story of my love life:

Thanks, girls!

And BTW, you can find a video of Ida HERE.

Day 20 (DDRD 3,203) August 10, 2026

Read to page  537 / 53:15 (HERE)

Probably because of the use of a racist word, someone decided to rewrite the lyrics of the put them on the list none of them will be missed song. They made it contemporary with references to kids driving cars in the street and things like that. Seems like a long way to go to avoid a single word.

The music here--from the overture up to where I stopped for the day--has been unrelentingly excellent. It's no wonder that this was the most popular of the Gilbert & Sullivan works.

Day 21 (DDRD 3,204) August 11, 2026

Read to page 570 / 1:54:11.

Day 22 (DDRD 3,205) August 12, 2026

Read to page 593, end of Mikado. Pretty sure this was the best of the lot...though some songs from Pinafore and Pirates do keep popping up in my mind.

Day 23 (DDRD 3,206) August 13, 2026

Read to page 624 / 53:43.

Ruddigore (HERE) 

Hmmm...that's only Act I. I thought this was going to be a short one. Turns out it's the longest. So far.

Day 24 (DDRD 3,207) August 14, 2026

Read to page 655 / 29:06. There was an interesting scene wherein the pictures of Rob's evil ancestors stepped out of the frames and confronted him, threatening him with torture if he did not stick to the agreement of committing one evil act per day. I think this is the first time that Gilbert has tapped into the supernatural.

Day 25 (DDRD 3,208) August 15, 2026

Read to page 674, The End.    

Day 26 (DDRD 3,209) August 16, 2026

Read to page 718 / 1:11:06 Halfway through this one...and then only three more to go!

The Yeoman of the Guard,which you can find HERE. 

This is supposed to be Gilbert and Sullivan's "serious" opera. I'm not seeing any difference between it and any of the previous ones, though. Which is not a bad thing--I just don't understand why it was referred to as being of a different nature. 

Day 27 (DDRD 3,210) August 17, 2026

Read to page 760. 

"Let's have no ifs, ans, or buts." I have to admit I always thought it was "ands." But an(s) means if(s), and Asimov points out that "ands" makes no sense.

Day 28 (DDRD 3,211) August 18, 2026

Read to 790 / 48:49. According to Asimov this is one of Gilbert and Sullivan's Big Four (along with Pirates, Pinnafore, and Mikado). We'll see...although I must say that the music for this one has been particularly rousing.

The Gondoliers (HERE). 

Day 29 (DDRD 3,212) August 19, 2026

Read to page 821 / 1:39:57. Hmm. How did 30 pages take an hour and a half? Lots of repetition,  I guess.

Day 30 (DDRD 3,213) August 20, 2026

Read to page 851. Not bad...but I wouldn't put it in the same company as The Mikado (etc.).

Day 31 (DDRD 3,214) August 21, 2026

Read to page 886. I didn't have it in me to listen as I read today. Might get to it later. Might not.

Utopia, Limited (HERE) Looks like this is going to be a long one: 2 3/4ths hours running time. That's a lot of love. But hey...this is G&S's penultimate work (a mere 208 pages to go!), so I'm getting closer to my ho-ome.

Day 32 (DDRD 3,215) August 22, 2026

Read to page 916. Still no music...which makes for much faster reading.

Day 33 (DDRD 3,216) August 23, 2026

Read to page 942, which was the end of Utopia, Limited. 

The last text page is 1036, which means that I have a mere 94 pages to go.... 3 days max.

A line late in the opera begins, "Oh, would some demon power the gift impart...." A lin"e late in Robert Burns' poem "To a Louse" goes like this: "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us...."

So in common we have "Oh would some...power the gift" and the synonyms "impart" and "give."

Interesting. I'm thinking Gilbert had Mr. Burns on his mind.

Day 34 (DDRD 3,217) August 24, 2026

Read to 972. Video is HERE...though i have to admit that I didn't even bother with it. Asimov warned that this was the worst Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration since their first, and I believe he was right. I'm just ready for it to be over with now. To further that end, I may try to read some more later.

Meanwhile, there's this bit of excrement:

Asimov notes that the word "rate" here probably means physical abuse. Even a male chauvinist pig like Isaac balked at this line.

Day 35 (DDRD 3,218) August 25, 2026

Read to page 1006. So time to ask..."What comes next?"

Isaac says

But I was pretty sure that the "hypocritically" part seemed wrong to me, so I Googled, and

And as you can see, there's no mention of hypocrisy. Sorry, Isaac, but I thing you're wrong on this one.

Day 36 (DDRD 3,219) August 26, 2026

Read to page 1,056, The End.  Not the best annotated book I've read, but there were many good moments, and it was definitely worth doing.

Onward.