DDR: The Adventures of Sinbad 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 + 205 = 229 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 

"...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)

Proofreading errors are bad any time, but I think misspelling the main character's name should be cause for prosecution:

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).

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.