Library Wishes

I have been trying with moderate success to check more books out of the library and not actually buy them.  Fairly recently, I finally went over to the Reference Library and listened to some of the CDs they had in the reference area.  While I liked a few of them, generally there wasn't anything I was desperate to buy.  In one case, I actually listened to a record.  As an aside, the library has recently upgraded their turntables, so that they actually work.  They also have started buying vinyl for the first time in decades.  Personally, I am not sure this is the very best use of their funds, since new vinyl is absurdly over-priced (and in most cases is simply an analog pressing of music that was digitally recorded!).  There are probably a few rarities I have downstairs that I could donate, but I won't do that if it is just going to end up in a book sale...

Now one interesting case was Hugh Fraser's Looking Up, which was the record I listened to.  I found it pretty busy and wasn't that grabbed by any of the tracks except for a 12 minute opus "Sanctus Agnus Dei."  I was hoping this had made its way onto some compilation or even Youtube, but no such luck.  It had been played on some podcast, though this seems to have been scrubbed from the airwaves.  So I probably will try to be strong and not buy the LP, but it is frustrating not to have more options.  As I was doing some research, I found out that UT's Music Library has a pretty decent collection, including of jazz by Canadian artists (and one more Neil Swainson recording I hadn't even heard about).  However, alumni borrowers cannot take CDs out of the library!  When it reopens, I'll have to ask how many music listening stations they have, but this may not be a viable option for me, particularly as the hours aren't great for people who work full time, though they are open on Saturday.  I don't think I know any current UT students who could check the CDs out for me, so it might be a long wait to listen to any of these CDs or records.

I am definitely hoping that one of the libraries picks up Rezzori's Abel and Cain (now scheduled for release in April 2019).  I cannot imagine rereading the entirety of The Death of My Brother Abel.  No matter how butchered the original translation was, there isn't anything that could salvage this novel for me, and Kain/Cain sounds like more of the same.  I'll read it once but only for completeness's sake.

In early February, NYRB is coming out with Amit Chaudhuri's Friend of My Youth.  While I quite like the cover, that isn't a good enough reason to buy the book, particularly as it is quite short (under 200 pages) and I could easily read it in a week or less.

After poking around, I saw that Robarts already has an earlier edition of this novel.  In this case, I don't even think there is a special NYRB introduction (as there is for Comyns's The Juniper Tree), so there is no reason not to just check the book out (as soon as I renew my alumni card).

Perhaps the biggest question mark is if either Robarts or the Toronto Library will pick up this forthcoming book on Picasso's late work (Picasso The Late Work: From the Collection of Jacqueline Picasso), which should be published in late May.

 
My money's on Robarts, since they generally have the stronger art collection, though it might also end up in the Reference Library's collection.  Robarts would definitely work better for me.  While I find aspects of this period of Picasso's work to be interesting, I probably wouldn't return to it often enough to actually buy the book.  Now curiously enough, Picasso's step-daughter will be opening a museum in Aix-en-Provence featuring many of these works, though it isn't scheduled to open until 2021 (with a preview scheduled for a museum in Potsdam of all places).  I had a very nice trip to Aix years ago (mostly to check out Cezanne's old stomping grounds), and while I wouldn't mind going back, it is fairly low on my list of priorities (whenever I do get back to Europe).  For the immediate future, I'll have to settle for checking out this catalog whenever it hits one of my local libraries.