Monday, November 7, 2011

Ye Yearly Haul

I always enjoy gloating about whatever I bring home from the annual book sale of the Friends of the Multnomah County Public Library, a freewheeling extravaganza of bookish pillage.  This year's haul was not especially vast, but it will do.


Three regular book-books:

Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety - which I like very much, but haven't had a copy of.

"The Portable Milton," including Paradise Lost. - I've heard it's good.

Boswell's Life of Johnson.  Old school!

Three art books, which may or may not get cut to ribbons.

Books on Tape (as in, actually on cassette tapes; these are now essentially free)

Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises
Joyce's Dubliners
The Odyssey (read by Ian McKellen!)

Mappy Books

Harvey's Topographical Maps.  The very copy that I had too-hastily donated to the book sale last year.  I missed it.

The National Atlas of Korea.  A magnificent and beautifully made 2009 modern atlas.  Also, an genuine instance of institutional insanity: some maps show the entire Korean peninsula and some the actual country of North Korea, but there is not the slightest explanation or justification of why some maps are one way and others the other.  Indeed, in the entire comprehensive scholarly document, the existence of two separate Koreas is alluded to, but vaguely, in precisely one sentence of the history essay.

CDs


I said that I would get at least 10 CDs for random review here.  I'm pretty pleased with the take.

Prokofiev, Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Miles Davis in Europe
Jerusalem: Matins for the Virgin of Guadeloupe.
Chopan: Polinaises
Mahler: Symphony #4, arranged for small ensemble.
Hanson Conducts Hanson
Cage: Music for Prepared Piano
Carter: Variations for Orchestra, etc.
Couperin: Messe a L'Usage des Paroisses
Poulenc: Les Animaux modeles
Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters
Levy: Symphony #3, Cello Concerto #2

3 comments:

Elaine said...

I love a Chopin Polonaise as much as the next person, but the Mazurkas are my favorites.

Our library just had its sale. Our technique is to wait until the rush is over and then swoop in. We scored at least two dozen LPs --singles and albums-- spending a total of $12. Some of these are practically untouched by human hands. Of course, most people can't even play them any more...

Jenners said...

I'm assuming Hanson Conducts Hanson has nothing to do with the Mmmm Bop group?

Michael5000 said...

Elaine: A vinyl trove! What a lark!

Jenners: And right you are! This would be the two symphonies of the 20th Century American composer Howard Hanson, written in 1924 and 1930. It's the classic Mercury Living Presence recording, so quite a steal.