Murakami in Barcelona
Haruki Murakami - one of my favourite living authors - has been giving a reading in Barcelona this week at Casa Asia. Most exciting to me is the news of the impending release (well, a few months is impending on Murakami’s timeline) of his new book 1Q84 which by all accounts weighs in at something of a heavyweight…not sure exactly but allegedly the longest Murakami yet.
Apparently the Japanese version is slated for publication in May but schedule for English translation is unknown. At least by me. I will link to Spanish articles about Murakami’s reading in the next post but for now there is interesting speculation about the book at How To Japanese.
March 18 2009 in BarcelonaWriting | Read More | Comments [0]
From Barcelona Review: Murakami on Running
Leading literary publication, The Barcelona Review have kindly given us permission to publish the occasional Book Review which appear intermittently on their site and in their magazine.
We kick off this irregular series with a review of Haruki Murakami’s “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”. Read the complete review below.
March 15 2009 in Book Reviews | Read More | Comments [0]
Book Club
I am considering starting a book club but it depends on whether there is enough interest here in Barcelona. Most of our clients are overseas based and interested in high-end rare collectible books but I would like to offer something to locals here in Barcelona to try to get some sort of literary momentum going - or provide another focus for existing any existing ones.
The idea would be that we would choose specific signed first editions that we think will appreciate in value and be a worthwhile investment as well as a great read! These signed firsts we would sell to members of the Book Club at list price - but only to personal customers here in Barcelona. At least to start with. It can be difficult to source signed firsts, particularly of in-demand authors and quantities would of necessity be limited. In the light of this we would offer one such book every month and the intending member would commit to buying, say, three books per year, prepaid at the time of joining. After the first year, if they chose to continue, then there would be only a commitment to buy one book.
Members could leave the scheme at any time after the first year and of course could buy any number more than three if they so desired. I think it could be a good scheme and is a way of putting something back into Barcelona…. the books would need to be pre-ordered but whichever book we choose for any given month we would buy in any case to sell for the business but in such a case we would sell at the market rate which can often be substantially higher once the signed firsts become unavailable. Essentially we are offering book-lovers in Barcelona to put in an order when we place one for a signed first and receive it at list price.
Whether we implement such a scheme depends very much on interest on the ground as it were so anyone interested let me know - no commitment at this point - and we can judge whether or not it is something worth pursuing!
February 15 2009 in Books & Bookmen | Read More | Comments [0]
TBR Pile
I thought I’d write a quick blog about my To Be Read Pile which is growing at an alarming pace in the corner of my office. I can’t seem to get on top of it somehow and it keeps getting added to as people are sending me proofs by the dozen in addition to the books I am buying myself - which is a not inconsiderable amount. I’ll link to Amazon descriptions for anyone interested.
Right now I am reading Wetlands
I can’t wait to finish the first of these two because…well…I’ll tell you soon enough, it’s as bad as reading Dawkins, really - and the second I just don’t want to end. But I shall be consoled. Teetering on a Babel-esque pile in the corner of my squalid lair I have the following:
Mr Toppit
Ruiz Zafon’s forthcoming monster The Angel’s Game
Reif Larsen - The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet
Burnt Shadows
Once on a Moonless Night
“Crossroads” by Niccolo Ammanti. Supposed to be pure genius. Will find out.
And too many more to list. Will post more in a day or two. Shantaram
February 14 2009 in Books & Bookmen | Read More | Comments [0]
Bus Slogan Generator
Cool! Just what the Atheist-Fundie vs Xian Fundie Bus Wars needed - an emergency injection of a sense of humour! To the rescue rides the amazing technicolour Bus slogan Generator!
Here’s my effort!
February 11 2009 in | Read More | Comments [0]
Featured Book: Vertigo by W G Sebald
I’m starting to do a semi-regular feature about books that have come into my possession or that I otherwise lust after or are somehow worthy of comment. Let’s kick this off with W G Sebald’s “Vertigo”, not an easy book to find in fine condition and less so signed as this one is.
February 11 2009 in Featured Books | Read More | Comments [0]
Transformation Complete (almost)
So…it’s been a while, but finally the transmogrification from wiseacring gibberings masquerading as a pseudo-theological weblog to ‘serious online bookstore’ with appended wiseacring gibberings masquerading as a bookdealing weblog is now complete. Mwahaha.
As the gentle reader will now observe, we are specializing in much the same sort of material we used to only rant about: Modern First Editions - particularly hypermoderns with an emphasis on signed copies, limiteds, crime fiction and Booker nominated - esoteric works: Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Bennett and the gang, Charlie Fort, Austin Osman Spare and all aspects of Islamic Studies with an emphasis on Islamic Art and Classical Sufism as well as Middle Eastern academic works and travel literature such as Burton, Burckhardt, Newby, Thesiger etc.
Currently a very small section of our stock is listed and we are updating daily. Please enquire if you have a specific want or even material you think we may be interested in, we purchase regularly. We are also busy listing on ABE and several other listing services and will post details here when complete. Meanwhile we have a downloadable pdf available of Clearance sale items.
October 06 2008 in | Read More | Comments [0]
Hola!
As you can see we are back online - there’s been a few changes, mostly the transfer from WordPress to Expression Engine which took a bit longer than I thought but was definitely worth the wait. I shall post on the technical details of it later today. Meanwhile, just wanted to give you all fair warning that we’re back in town!
April 25 2007 in Misfitted Stuff | Read More | Comments [1]
Another World
February 20 2007 in Godbothering | Read More | Comments [8]
Future of Anulios
Apologies for absence, I have been re-structuring life, ideas and plans.
Over the next few months I will be attempting to turn Anulios into a ‘real world’ magazine/review. It is a big project and will take some time - the idea is to have a magazine that is downloadable and can be printed out from a website - this one - which will also feature some of the articles and features.
The magazine will still be called Anulios but the focus will swerve slightly; there will be more on an ‘activity in the real world’ aspect and this means events and happenings in Barcelona as that is where we are - anything from reviews to storytellings and exhibitions which we shall be organizing.
February 10 2007 in Misfitted Stuff | Read More | Comments [2]
Christianity Before The Sands
By Max Gorman
It is often said these days that we live in a ‘post-Christian culture’ - whatever that means. But if you told the average man in the street that he was not a Christian, the chances are that he would not be particularly pleased. I have tried this myself with a native of these islands who I knew for a fact had never opened a bible, nor set foot inside a church - and only narrowly escaped physical violence!
On the other hand if I had actually called this man (and there are many like him) a Christian, I am fairly sure he would not have been happy with this either. So what is going on? Almost everyone you ask, however, no matter how little they know about Jesus, will tend to say he was an exceptional, a great, man, whose influence upon humanity has been a good one, that the world is ‘better’ for his having been here.
January 16 2007 in Godbothering | Read More | Comments [0]
I am God….
well…not me personally (any more or less than we all are anyway) as will be painfully obvious even to the most comatose peruser of these wiseacrings, but I was recently asked by a reader what I thought of this statement as it has been traditionally attributed to Mansur al-Hallaj so, being in desperate need of material and as no-one wants to be a guest-blogger, I thought I’d post the answer here.
December 23 2006 in Islamica | Read More | Comments [12]
Eugene’s Comment
I have been inspired to emerge from my self-imposed exile by some comments by reader Eugene which you can peruse here.
This is an idea I had myself quite a while back but nothing came of it for the simple reason that it is impossible to get the people who have the capacity for this. In short; Gurdjieff’s ‘Seekers of Truth’ and any equivalent we may foreseeably cobble together are not the same thing and - in the present climate - there is absolutely zero possibility of even reaching 1% of the quality of consciousness of those people. Imo.
November 30 2006 in Islamica | Read More | Comments [45]
Hola
Hi everyone, I just want to say thanks to James and Mark and everyone who contributed comments to the Mark’s guest blog - this is perhaps the nearest that we have come here to what I have always hoped for on Anulios; what the Sufis call jam - ‘coming together’.
I hope the dialogue continues and is curious the levels of application - everyone is taking from it something that is meant for them. I have realized something quite important for me from this dialogue though perhaps now is not the time to share it as it needs digesting first but I wanted to express my gratitude.
Carry on guys!
October 18 2006 in Misfitted Stuff | Read More | Comments [8]
First Guest Blogger
A while back I asked for contributions from ‘Guest Bloggers’ as I was - and still am - a little too busy to post. I received the following from Mark over at Eternal Awareness and I post it here un-edited and with my apologies for taking so long to post it….sorry!
As requested, please accept this contribution, representing my hope that you will continue to maintain your blog.
I recently rejoined blogging after a seven month hiatus. I stopped because I was disillusioned, although not for the same reason you have given. In my case, I was discouraged by my inability to find the words to convey my message. I have studied for many years with a genuine master teacher of the esoteric arts and sciences. From reading some of your past posts, especially your recent series on “Why I am Abandoning Esotericism” and from reading comments from some of your readers, I have been struck by several things.
September 26 2006 in Misfitted Stuff | Read More | Comments [26]
