The fifty-third book: #1008 A Tale of a Tub - Jonathan Swift

Satirical works always rely a bit on the reader understanding what's going on. The best don't necessarily do so - which is why Gulliver's Travels has some good sections - but it means that works that were relevant and entertaining in their day (this was considered Swift's best) are lacklustre these day. The parable of the three brothers comments on the development of protestant religion and how none met Swift's puritan vision. It doesn't feel as relevant today - a few hundred years making a difference in how these religions are perceived and mixed - and I don't really care about the point it's trying to make in the first place.

The long philosophical digressions didn't help either - they always bore me - and on the whole that left me with a novel that had some interesting passages, but bored me just as often. Sorry to disappoint, your best doesn't seem as good to me.

The fourty-third comic: #26 The Gumps

Today we're covering a 1917 newspaper comic about an inventor (although that barely comes up in the ones we read) and his family. Constrained to the Sunday comics as we are (availability is limited), it feels like the setup is too long and the pay off too little, with most punchlines just not that funny. It might have been special at the time, but it feels like it all bypassed me here.

The ninety-second album: #92 Frank Sinatra - Frank Albert Sinatra And Antonio Carlos Jobim

Old Blue Eyes is back, moving from his show tunes to cover more bossa nova songs as well, starting with the now famous Girl from Ipenima. We've not covered his songs in quite a while and it feels like music has taken over Sinatra's music, but here he's showing more flexibility. He's staying where he's comfortable, but there's a modern twist here that shows him trying to evolve. It won't have set the youth aflame, but probably appealed to older audiences.

For the most part it's all standard, though, and while it sounds incredibly good, there isn't actually much news here. The bossa nova influence changes the music somewhat, but there's not loads that would have been different a decade or two ago. Now it feels a bit boring and stale and while other later singers go in this direction too, it feels like here it's missing some energy that really grabs me. Perhaps it's because Sinatra doesn't swing himself - something like the aforemention Girl from Ipenema feels flatter than it should be. Sensitive, sure, but that's not the emotion you want here. It all doesn't quite correlate, and this year offered better.

The fifty-second book: #46 Evelina - Fanny Burney

Evelina is another epistolary, but this time that's better than before. Fanny Burney is a predecessor of the likes of Jane Austen, forward looking in how women aren't treated as the saintly, perfect beings. Evelina is flawed and is surrounded by people who are as well. Evelina's nearest family - a silversmith with wife, daughters and so on, are the biggest example of this. There's a long section surrounding an opera visit that I loved reading. It just worked that well.

Some of the letters don't feel as well set up, but on the whole, we get an interesting, engaging story with real characters that starts to challenge the standard role of women in society, including the conflict between those that want to go with it and those who want to stay where they are - and what happens there in lower classes than the aristocracy these usually cover.

The thirty-fourth classical recording: #606 Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird

While it can be quite difficult at times to write down a specific interpretation for a piece, the magic of the enchanted garden and the firebird came through quite clearly in the music for me. It stays evocative throughout, a lot of emotions running through at different speeds and in different places, creating a story you can start to visualize.

The seventy-ninth TV show: #4 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

Green Acres has shown us that old comedies aren't necessarily hokey and stale as they imagine to be, even if some of the tropes are there because they started them. Still, Green Acres was ahead of its time and so when this comedy came up, I did wonder. And while it's not as weird as Green Acres, the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show has it's moments of weirdness. First, George Burns is here often as a narrator, getting involved in plots, but rarely really being the focus. Gracie Allen gets the attention, playing her role as dimwitted wife whose leap of logic don't always make sense, but it's somewhat understandable where they come from. Her patter stands out in these episodes, creating a delightful bizarre set of situations that sets up and resolves the plot, but just works well on its own.

They came into this from their radio act, and their double act works well from the start, including the interactions with their secondary characters (Blanche always follows along amazingly). The plots follow familiar beats, but the characterization works so well that it stays a delight to watch these.

The three hundred and thirty-seventh song: Tired of Being Alone - Al Green

I must admit I'm not quite sure where we ended up in the last eight, but I think the variation continues in the next eight. We're in the era where R&B has established itself and that's what we're getting here, a soul song that feels like it adds the rhythm - and that reminds me of the easy listening music from my days working at the supermarket. It's not bad for that, it just sticks to a very definite sound that works quite well but may not always suit the subject. It's upbeat and feel good and in the end I do appreciate that here.

The three hundred and thirty-eighth song: Won’t Get Fooled Again - The Who

Whereas the previous song may have felt like a throwback, The Who bring a step forward. We're not quite at metal, we're moving towards punk and hard rock, but we're leaving psychedelia for a heavier guitar sound, possibly with some other influences, but in taking a step back to rock's origins, it drives the sound forward as well. It's not mashing the guitars, but it still fronts those instruments rather than making it sound 'weird'.

The three hundred and thirty-ninth song: Vincent - Don McLean

A quiet ballad, this tribute to Vincent van Gogh is quiet, simple and beautiful in that simplicity. It's parts lullaby, part exploration, soft and reassuring while exploring van Gogh's life and trouble. It's quite sweet, really, heartfelt without being sentimental - nothing fake about it.

The three hundred and fourtieth song: City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman

And then we get a happy folk song about a train ride to New Orleans. There's a violin and harmonica and the hay bales appear in front of me as I listen to it. And I mean, I like train travel, but here it feels a bit much. It makes me smile, it's fun, but at the same time, it feels a throwback to an earlier era and a song that doesn't necessarily stick with me.

The three hundred and fourty-first song: Peace Train - Cat Stevens

While a vaguely folksy song again (Wikipedia classifies this as soft rock, but there's folk and soul in here as well), here it's obviously all about peace. It's a notable sentiment and one that I feel music can address really well, but the music here feels outdated and for that reason probably doesn't reach me as well. It's trying to achieve peace by sounding happy, while it feels these days it's something to get angry for - something the rise of harder rock in this era will probably also show. At the same time, this is the sort of song that ended the Vietnam war, so perhaps more changed here.

The three hundred and fourty-second song: Superstar - The Carpenters

Dark and vaguely haunting, the mood of loneliness is set early on. There's something very real in the emotions and at times it feels raw, even where the instruments play over it, and it puts you in the right mindset just listening to it. It's orchestral, but aside from the refrain, not overly so. The refrain reinforces the themes far more, but it feels right when it goes down and focuses on the vocals, the story of desire and loneliness in the dedication to one person when they're not there.

The three hundred and fourty-third song: A Nickel and a Nail - O.V. Wright

Blues still exists - as I said, R&B seems like it's rising - but this isn't the blues you knew. There's soul influences, the production has increased, but it still comes down to a powerful voice, not upbeat, but full of energy. Sorrowful, the life of a poor man, but but it's how so much more comes out of it that makes this sound so good.

The three hundred and fourty-fourth song: Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye

A song about how we can't change our lives for the better, how the world is keeping us down, probably isn't one that I can identify much with, but Marvin Gaye puts the message across quite well, explaining how so many things are going wrong and troubling him, and how life in the inner city isn't easy. The haunting funk - keeping up a higher beat than vocals seem to follow - increase the tension of a move that forces you ever forward, even if you need a chance to catch your breath, and towards the end of the 'main' song, the tempo seems to increase.

The thirty-third classical recording: #200 Ludwig von Beethoven - Symphony no 6 "Pastoral"

A symphony inspirred by the feeling of being in and walking through nature, it immediately starts off on this note, filled with movement but with some of the serenity of being out in nature. There are places where bird songs are involved, others where the sounds of water flowing come up and rain storms. It's an active nature, loud and varied, wtih humans intruding, and evoking the feeling rather well.

The thirty-second classical recording: #486 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker

It can be hard to judge a ballet on its music alone. There are, of course, some very famous sequences in here, but the link to the visuals is lost. And with a piece as varied at this, the specific dances partway through the second act get lost. It still feels thematically consistent, though, even in places where it varies. It carries you through and creates its own arc, from big and warm to smaller and lighter, sometimes creepier, until its happier waltz at the end. It's a good piece, and I feel I really should seek it out for a live performance rather than just the music I could cover now.

The fifty-first book: #1007 The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan

Meh.

Look, I know this is ont he list because it's the first English novel. But a religious allegory would never sit well with me, especially one as blunt as this. And I don't see many redeeming features in how it's creative. I guess some of its imagery is creative, but it's not very effective, especially with the names being as obvious as they are. When you put people in boxes and don't allow them out of it, you're not making your point well enough and there's little that feels redeeming.

The fiftieth book: #1006 Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit - John Lyly

I didn't get Euphues. I just never did. Some books on this list are written to show off how smart the author is, The edition I had was littered with footnotes to explain everything, and the book felt impenetrable because of that. It's mostly more letters and lengthy conversations, without much of a point that I can see. I felt bored and annoyed as nothing happened for most of it and I lost track if anything happened other than a visit to England from Greece. I just didn't see the point.