books, books

so yesterday was a hot day and horsemouth managed to get his hell task done - he managed to put on a tap valve such that it didn't leak (mind you he has left the g-clamp on the pipe because he doesn't really trust it). he left the g-clamp on because he suspects they are going to have to move it anyway for there is another leak in the pipe before it gets to the leak horsemouth has just (semi-successfully) dealt with, and this is the major leak. 

to get to the real leak horsemouth will have to (carefully) dig up the pipe (which is buried underneath the brambly hedge).

he will then repeat the process of clamping off the pipe and putting the valve on it (which does involve getting rather wet). next time he will do it better because he will be more confident and be able to take more time over doing it. (er, hopefully).

anyway so he did that (and ordered the parts for it that seem to be the right parts). 

he then emptied out the trough. and later he took the recycling down to the bottom of the drive. but other than that he mostly hid indoors in the shade tending his insect bites. 

the book that have saved horsemouth's life...

the book horsemouth couldn't put down - in recent years he can think of many more books where he couldn't get on with reading them. 

the book horsemouth couldn't pick up - beyond capital by istvan meszaros.  plus it's a big motherfucker, a breeze block of a book , so it is difficult to find the enthusiasm to take it out on a walk. 

the book you gave me (that I haven't read yet (sorry)) - the origins of totalitarianism by hannah arendt.  to be fair there's a lot of it and it starts with a long discussion of  the position of jews in medieval european society before moving on to anything modern and recognisable (jew hatred/ anti-semitism/ mobs/ conspiracy theories/ populism etc.).  in the end her on violence proved more useful to him (even though it is seriously wrong-headed). 

the book horsemouth brought to the beach - aesthetic theory theodor adorno.  he was writing a review of ben watson's derek bailey and the story of free improvisation which is largely based on adorno (of course what he should have read was negative dialectics by adorno but ho-hum). he sat on valencia town beach in the summer of 2006  and read the first two back to back (and went for rather a lot of swims).  

the book horsemouth tried so hard to like - anything by dostoyevsky

the book horsemouth somehow owns three copies of - silas marner by george eliot 

the book that have saved horsemouth's life -  franz kafka's metamorphosis for helping him realise that other people find this life business difficult too. jacques attali's noise (as translated by brian massumi) gave him an entry point into writing and thinking about music (and thus into writing and thinking).  similarly, and perhaps even earlier,  adorno's philosophy of modern music. 

the book horsemouth lent you (and can he have it back please) - christ stopped at eboli  by carlo levi and practicalities by margueritte duras. 

the book horsemouth falls asleep to every night - whichever one he is reading at the moment. 

the book horsemouth mistook for a hat - er. that has never happened. 

the book horsemouth is desperately trying to write well it's not a novel, it's more like an autobiography but with some theory larded in (christ stopped at eboli  by carlo levi and practicalities by margueritte duras would be good examples of what he is after). 

... and all the books that changed horsemouth's life 

horsemouth doesn't know that it is books that have changed his life. the illuminatus trilogy for giving him a very wrong headed idea about anarchism and anarchy. tadeusz konvicki's  a minor apocalypse for generating his interest in polish literature (ok this is not strictly true, there was bruno shulz's the street of crocodiles before that), jose saramago for generating his interest in portuguese literature. 

something trashy by michael moorcock (probably an elric book) for introducing him to hawkwind, new worlds, the new wave of science fiction, innumerable new wave science fiction writers.

today is actually lammas (and the anniversary of the release of musicians of bremen volume four) but horsemouth prematurely announced it yesterday. (such is the nature of things). . he has been over to let the chickens out. he has brought the  bin back up the drive and done some watering. it has clouded over (later a storm apparently).