Comments on: Stuff I’ve been reading this week that you should think about reading too

By: My Big Dumb Cultural Diary: Part One | Wait until next year

My Big Dumb Cultural Diary: Part One | Wait until next year — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:32:53 +0000

[...] Consuming sport, and other less important stuff Skip to content HomeAboutBaseballGBLinks ← Stuff I’ve been reading this week that you should think about reading too My Big Dumb Culture Diary: Part Two [...]

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:53:33 +0000

Instapaper has been fantastic so far. I’m now far more likely to read longer articles I find online, especially now I’ve hooked this up to my phone. Apart from the usual places, http://givemesomethingtoread.com/ and http://www.theawl.com/ are good places to find suitable stuff to ‘read later’.

The Culture Diaries really are great. They appeal to my nosiness no end.

I’ll certainly check out that post – sounds fascinating. I may well add that book to my ever-growing ‘to read’ list too…

By: MDS

MDS — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:52:56 +0000

Thanks for the links. I didn’t know about Instapaper until your post. I’ve had a quick dig around and, once I’ve finished this comment, I’ll be registering for an account of my own. The Paris Review Culture Diaries are great aren’t they?

As for suggestions of my own I have two at the moment. The first is a great post on a blog I read regularly, Le Grimpeur. As the title suggests it’s a blog centred on cycling, specifically climbing. This essay, and I use that term advisedly, is no exception but it delves into the connections between sports and politics using the career/life of Italian cyclist Bartali as a richly suggestive starting point. You can find “The Politics of the Personal” here: http://le-grimpeur.net/blog/archives/215

The other is novel I just finished called The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Apparently a film adaption was made, but I missed that when it was released. It’s not a perfect book by any means but the Victorianist in me was kept immensely entertained. Told through a series of notebook entries it’s a narrative of a feud between two English fin de siecle magicians. The ending isn’t surprise by any means but I still found it deliciously shocking for reasons I haven’t entirely worked out yet.