The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham News and Links for Friday, October 13

good morning!

We’re still in the mire of international break. There isn’t much to talk about, so let’s revisit a question I’ve asked before.

Surely, the answers must be different by now.

“What are you reading right now?”

Fitzie’s reading two books.

The first: The Charterhouse of Parma, by Stendhal. I’ve gotta tell ya - this one is a hell of a slog. I bought it more than a month ago and am only 20% of the way through it.

It was published sometime in the early-1800s and chronicles the exploits of an Italian nobleman during the Napolean years. But the real action isn’t in the battlefield, it’s in the shadows of these powerful courts that some other people manouvre through.

It’s really difficult. I think I only had one or two real good sit-downs reading this book, but other than that it is tough to read. The sentences are very long and the material is thick. I’ve put a pause on this for now.

And while that’s paused, I’m reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami.

This read is a whole lot of fun. I’ve never read Murakami, which is a shame. After this I will. But I was strolling through the bookstore and saw this, thought it looked like a gem and bought it. Why would I, a runner, not want to buy a book about a novelist who writes about running (and writing)? I’ll have more to say on running in a future hoddle.

And I have one book on standby: The Fifth Mountain, by Paulo Coelho. I didn’t care much for The Alchemist when I read it in my high school years. Haven’t read Coelho since. But hey, let’s give this one a shot.

So that’s what your HIC is reading (or not reading) at the moment.

Do share your books with the group.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Get Back, by Tina Turner

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$) does a profile on Tottenham technical director Johan Lange

Current Aussie manager invokes Ange Postecoglou to spur on Socceroos

James Maddison says the current international break has come at an ‘annoying time’

Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo leave Italy squad over police investigation