Better Than Friday - 45 (Patreon)

Gooooood morning everyone. Get that coffee. 

Hope ya'll are well. 

1. Book in the pipeline - Nada by Jean-Patrick Manchette 

Jean-Patrick Manchette was a famous French crime writer, who, interestingly, also translated Alan Moore's 'Watchmen' into French, which I haven't yet read.

I've never read any Manchette, but NYRB sent this one my way awhile back. 

(He) was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote ten short novels in the seventies and early eighties, and is widely recognized as the foremost French crime fiction author of the 1970s - 1980s. His stories are violent explorations of the human condition and French society. Manchette was politically to the left and his writing reflects this through his analysis of social positions and culture.

- Wikipedia

This tour de force political thriller, told in Manchette's signature noir style, follows a group of far left extremists in the throes of post-1968 disillusionment.

The thrill of 1968 is long over, and the heavy fog of the 1970s has settled in. In Paris, however, the Nada gang—or groupuscule—still retains a militant attachment to its revolutionary dreams. Bringing together an anarchist orphaned by the Spanish Civil War, a Communist veteran of the French resistance, a frustrated high-school teacher of philosophy, a timid office worker, a terminal alcoholic, and one uncompromising young woman with a house in the country, Nada sets out to kidnap the American ambassador and issue a call to arms. What could possibly go wrong?

- From Amazon

2. The Ocean cave Where Aleister Crowley Faked his Death with the help of Fernando Pessoa 

I've been here, but I never knew this was where Aleister Crowley faked his own death and Fernando Pessoa helped him!

3. Is Michel Houellebecq Ok? 

I'm not sure what to make of this, it's got an eerie tragic tone, not unlike his novels. 

It's as though he suspects his death is not far off and is making a project out of it. 

4. The Holy Week Procession in Seville 

Some beautiful visuals in here, though I'm not a fan of the music. 

5. Natasha Wimmer on Translating Roberto Bolaño 

The sound is bad, but an interesting talk if you're curious about translation. 

I've been a fan of her work for a long time, and have always been curious about her process.

Indian Ghost Pipe found in the woods.