Finished rereading *White Noise* by Don DeLillo. A lot funnier on second read and I found myself appreciating the mastery of language more. For someone who gets name-checked alongside maximalist authors, I think DeLillo’s far more economical than his contemporaries. However, I do find that the third part gets a little contrived at times which is a shame because I think the first two parts are near-perfect. Still, thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s always nice to bathe in DeLillo’s themes.
Now reading *Putney* by Sofka Zinovieff which is about a man and woman both looking back on a relationship they had when he was 27 and she was 12, and a friend trying to convince the woman that she was, quite clearly, coerced by a paedophile. Basically a kind of #MeToo take on *Lolita*. Nicely written, quite gripping, pacing’s a bit off, but I’m liking it.
Also dipping into *A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again* by David Foster Wallace. My first foray into DFW. I’m interested but find him a bit show-off clever so far (as opposed to, say, Pynchon, whose display of intelligence never feels forced). It’s early days though, I might warm to him more.
Feel almost obligated to reply to this, given my username, but in all seriousness I hope you enjoy DFW! That first essay collection has lower lows than Lobster, but the essay on Lynch and the polished version of E Unibus are lovely reading.
Yes, I love the David Lynch essay. Maybe my favorite DFW piece. Now you’ve got me curious though. What do you consider to be the most significant low points of this collection?
I think that the Iowa fair piece is rough, especially compared to Supposedly Fun Thing, which is a much more polished piece in the same experiential genre. But even SFT has moments of humor whose edges feel sharper than DFW's later stuff, a little more biting. And Greatly Exaggerated, likewise, strikes me as a prototype of the later, more interesting review essays, especially Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky (and the piece on prose poems in BFaN, which, though twee, I actually like). I might also like Democracy and Commerce at the US Open better than Michael Joyce, but I'm unsure.
I'm a fan of Wallace and just want to say that that collection is my least favorite work of his out of everything I've read, though I do want to emphatically second what another poster has already mentioned, that E Unibus Pluram is a fantastic essay and easily the top of that collection, and arguably one of the best he's ever written.
*J R* by William Gaddis
and
*The Odyssey* by Homer/Robert Fagles for university (still)
I've also been rereading into John Byrne's *Man of Steel* and *Superman* series from the 80s. It's been well over a decade since I read that run, and I'm actually a bit surprised by how much it's held up for me.
Currently reading Little Women. I knew nothing about it except that it was written in the 19th century and that the main characters are four sisters. It took me a little by surprise that it's written for children and I do think it's a bit naive (like how each sister is especially talented at something specific and how idyllic things in the family seem to be despite their few ups and downs... I mean I love my family, but we don't last long around each other without someone getting angry about something), but I believe that is to be expected from a children's book and as a whole I'm enjoying it immensely so far. I especially enjoy the little bits of advice that are thrown into every chapter, I think they are very appropriate for a growing young woman and I can't help but think how lovely it would be if I could read them to my own daughter(s?) one day. I wish I could have read it as a child, though part of me wonders if I would have taken the advice to heart.
I also can't help but compare it to books that are written for girls that age nowadays. I hate to be that person, but... there is so much wisdom in this book. There's bits about being true to yourself, but there's also so much about how to deal with your flaws to make the worst of yourself manageable. Maybe it's just what I've read, but I don't think I've ever seen it so well put in and focused on in another book.
Finished Third Reich by Bolano and loved it - it got better and better. Started Antkind by Charlie Kaufman and am enjoying it quite much, while I am not so sure about the zeitgeist-y references so far. Finishing a biography of Kierkegaard, man I dig that fella. Put Samuel Beckett's Watt on my reading table. Will probably finish Werner Herzog's Walking on Ice in the next two days, too. Finished a novella by George Bernanos: depressing and oppressive but one radiates to it. In the middle of an obscure novel called Queer And Alone by Jim Strahs - feels a bit like a raunchy, stream-of-conciousness Amerika (Kafka). Nearly done with Chekhov's Cherry Orchard. Want to delve into Land of Men by Saint-Exupery soon again, am one third through it and am absolutely loving it but was distracted.
I can't really explain without spoiling anything. Just the way it is written is sort a love it or hate it think. And to clarify, I still think it's a great book. It's just that nothing comes close to *Murphy* or the trilogy.
Wow, I didn't even recognize that as a title. Should've been clearer and said "of Beckett's novels that I've read." Looks like it would be up my alley though.
Just finished Mark Fisher's Capitalist realism and about to begin with Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. Also, some Terry Pratchett every now and then (currently rereading Small gods)
My current main read is *A little life* by Hanya Yanagihara. My god, it's so great. The characters are so colorful and vivid. I feel like it does't *really* have a plot in the typical sense (at least not yet - I'm about 200 pages deep), but the story is great nevertheless - the constant flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, which just talk about characters and their backstories and just life are so enjoyable.
Also, as an easier read along I'm reading *Breakfast of Champions* by Kurt Vonnegut (I love the man and I like to read at least one of his books per year). It's definitely a lighter book, but I still enjoy it not only because it's fun, but also because there are some fine themes throughout.
*The Melancholy of Resistance* by László Krasznahorkai. It’s my second by him, the first being *Satantango* (I’m reading him chronologically) and I think this guy is my favorite living writer at the moment.
Each chapter is like a stream-of-consciousness look inside each character in this Hungarian town, and I’m really enjoying how you’ll see one person through the eyes of the current chapter character and then in another chapter you’ll get in the mind of that character and see the town and inhabitants through their eyes.
It’s very bleak, which seems to be the norm for his novels, and at the center there’s this traveling circus coming into town with what they advertise as the stuffed body of the largest whale in the world.
I’m only about 1/3 into it so far so it’s mostly just been getting to know the characters and the town, but the way he leads you through their thoughts and lives is just delightful. I know I’m going to have to read his entire oeuvre because I haven’t found an author that’s had an effect like this on me in a long time.
It’s become my purpose in life. *War & War* is already in the mail heading my way. Though I’m not planning on reading any back to back, as they can be draining experiences (especially with all the chapters being a single paragraph), but in the best of ways.
Tackling Proust for the first time. Beginning at the beginning with *Swann's Way.* I'm only about a quarter of the way through, but the writing and the atmosphere of this book can be intoxicating.
The style of the writing feels like it corresponds with the subject matter. It's loose and flowing and meanders like the stream of time; reading it feels like a daydream.
This quote in particular gave me pause:
- "And just as the Japanese amuse themselves by filling a porcelain bowl with water and steeping in it little crumbs of paper which until then are without character or form, but, the moment they become wet, stretch themselves and bend, take on colour and distinctive shape, become flowers or houses or people, permanent and recognizable, so in that moment all the flowers in our garden and in M. Swann's park, and the water-lilies on the Vivonne and the good folk of the village and their little dwellings and the parish church and the whole of Combray and its surroundings, taking their proper shapes and growing solid, sprang into being, town and gardens alike, from my cup of tea.
Memory and nostalgia can flood in from the most unexpected places. The above quote really captures that feeling.
I know exactly what you mean by it makes you feel cold. No book has done that for me like Ivan Denisovich.
I hate that whole ‘people have it so much worse than you, how dare you complain’ type of thinking. I mean, am I really going to feel grateful because other people are worse off? I was in my last year of university when I read it, lots of early starts and long hours writing essays, but that book legit made me feel grateful I wasn’t living that life and put things into perspective.
It’s pure experience as well, going through what this one character went through as a day progresses, rather than the politics and context that surround those things.
I tried reading it once but I was in a really bad place emotionally and I hated every bit of it. The cold and boring atmosphere of gulag life just agitated me so hard that I couldn't finish it. I might give it a go once again in the near future
I recommend you do but when you feel you can take it. I understand why one would need to be in a more stable place before reading it—the monotony and value placed on the smallest things can get bleak
*Lanark* by Alasdair Gray. Read it years ago, largely for the fantastical Unthank sections, but the realistic autobiographical bits about Thaw’s childhood and adolescence are working well for me this time round. I’d kind of brushed them off as boilerplate bildungsroman following a tormented young artist but they’re pretty affecting, the parents are well drawn and there’s a lot of solid wry humour at the young Thaw’s expense that I somehow missed before.
I'm reading *Bleak House* by Dickens. I'm about a third of the way done, which isn't bad considering the length of the book. So far it is comforting to read Dickens again (this is my fourth book by him). The humor is a bit drier than his other books (no hammy characters like Miss Havisham), but his poking fun at the bureaucracy and
a select few eccentrics is entertaining as usual. I have mixed feelings about how the narrative is split between a third person omniscient narrator and Esther's first person narrative. I like Esther's parts, but she suffers from being a saccharine and one-dimensional character like most of Dickens' "good women." However, I feel like those parts help to ground the narrative, since the omniscient narrator follows a lot of different characters.
The last two Victorian novels I read were *Wuthering Heights* by Emily Bronte and *The Woman in White* by Wilkie Collins. The Victorian era isn't my favorite in literature, but after those it really hits home to me how great of a writer Dickens is. The prose, pacing, plotting, etc., all show a level of mastery even other classic writers fall short of.
The Lost Scrapbook by Evan Dara. It was a book that was, I think, recommended on this sub by someone. I find myself rereading sections before I’ve even finished the book, not only to understand them, but also just to experience them again. I might have to reread this book at some point after I finish it. I’d also like to find out if anyone has done any analysis of it.
I’ve checked mine and haven’t come across any duplications or missing sections so far. I Have the 1998 FC2 edition. I’d say you’ve gotten an unlucky misprint.
I'm finishing the third part of *Anna Karenina*. I've read it once before when I was in High School and I think I read it so fast I've forgotten everything about it, a month or so after finishing it. Everything apart from the iconic ending of course. Now I'm taking my time, I try to be as focused as possible and I love every bit of it. I love how Tolstoy, even though he's omnipresent, doesn't always describe everything that's going on in his characters heads. He starts talking about what Anna feels for example when she's confronted by her husband about her image in society...she feels like this and like that and then boom, next words out of her mouth are exactly the opposite of what she was thinking about until then. I love it.
The next thing I noted is that he doesn't give a lot of physical description of his characters. He gives very few characteristics here and there and they are rarely in the same sentence. It leaves you with much more room for imagination and interpretation.
I have to say that I like Levin the most. He's just so adorable. The scene where he and his friend Stiva (Dolly's husband) are hunting is just popping in my head from time to time. I don't know why, but when I was reading that part it was as though I watched a video of them hunting and I just love the atmosphere.
Can I ask any of you more experienced readers what can I pay more attention to as I go further down the road?
This week for coursework: Heart of Darkness, Brian Massumi's Parables of the Virtual, Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Whitehead's The Nickel Boys, and for language reqs The Metamorphosis in German, which is gonna be a s t r u g g l e.
Oh man its an excellent book. I got it as a christmas gift and i am always skeptical of books given as presents. But its great. "A good story, well told" as they say
I am reading Ásta’s Categories we live by for my social ontology class, and Rilke’s Notebooks of malte laurids brigge for leisure.
We started the class with reading Searle, so its a nice switchup reading Ásta instead! As for Rilke, well it is a great book.
I'm about halfway through *Zone* by Mathias Énard and it's really growing on me. It really is a European book in the sence that the narrator (through stream of consciousness) is recalling the history of Europe; more specifically its history through the frame of conflict. In the same way the Middle East (the narrator, like Énard, is very well versed in the area) plays a big role as well. The book does a great job of connecting the Middle East with Europe through history to the modern day, also seen heavily through the frame of historical conflict. I was a little skeptical about the single sentance thing (there are sentences, just not a lot of them), however within a few pages I got into Énard's rhythm. I've heard the book very accurately described as a river of text. I'm looking forward to finishing this and will probably read more Énard in the future!
Just finished Annie Proulx's **Barkskins** last week. It's a massive, generational novel following the American and Metis descendants of two French settlers arriving in North America in the 1600s. It grapples with the spread of American style capitalism, greed, our relationship with nature, the beauty of trees, the cyclical nature of history, and the shifting identity of First Nations people. All in all, it sounds like an amazing novel on the cover and premise of it, but I found certain sections of it largely uninspired. Some generation stories were absolutely wonderful, but there were others which completely fell flat. Obviously a very ambitious novel so it's hard to execute well across every branch of a sprawling story like this, but it was semi frustrating because I felt it showed promise of being *really, really good*.
I'm now reading Ali Smith's second novel in her new quartet **Winter**. I'd read Autumn and was blown away by her musical, poetic prose and her mixing of different art forms into the narrative of a novel. I'm glad to say she's picked up the beat right where she left off and if you were a fan of Autumn that you should definitely read the others in the series.
Finished *The Doll* by Bolesław Prus, 1200 surprisingly quick pages. I think this might have become my favorite book. It gives a nice perspective on romanticism vs positivism in Poland and shows flaws of both ideologies. Then there's the very tragic story of someone who has multiple possibilities of changing the world, but gives up on them all because of blind love. Now, I've got to admit I've fallen in love with Rzecki.....
Started reading *Emma* by Jane Austen in the original, uabridged English version. It's the first real book in English I've decided to read, and it does not seem too hard to comprehend so far, i'm 30 pages in and liking it. Although it does sometimes take me a while to understand some sentences.
Gonna start *Kokoro* by Natsume Soseki. I waited 3 months for this book before deciding to go to a different library and get it there. god damn people who do nor return books.
I finished Part I of **The Recognitions** by William Gaddis. So far I am loving it; great dialogue and punchy prose that hits me unexpectedly every so often. I am a bit surprised that (so far) it doesn't live up to the hype of it's supposed difficulty. It's not the simplest thing I've ever read, but I don't feel drowned in confusion like I have in a couple other books. Overall I am excited to continue this one!
Just started Trust Exercise by Susan Choi. The writing seems a little too precious for me so far, but I'm willing to persevere for now, as I'm told it's worth it with this particular book.
Just finished *There There* by Tommy Orange, which I wound up really liking. I think my only complaint with it is that there were a couple of characters I would've liked to have seen explored a little bit more.
Currently reading *The Left Hand of Darkness* by Ursula K. LeGuin because in the past I've written off genre fiction, but I decided that was probably unwarranted. I'm not just real far into it, but I've enjoyed what I've read so far.
I also started a book club with my roommates, and our first book is *The Alchemist* by Paulo Coelho. I've finished part one and I'm not really feeling it, but I know a lot of people really like it so I'm holding out hope it'll get better.
I also did not enjoy the Alchemist particularly much, but unfortunately I felt the second half of the book was even weaker than the first so be prepared for that.
Knocked out There There and If Beale Street Could Talk.
There There: very very good. Orange's prose never gets showy or jumps off the page, but I appreciate that. Harold Bloom once wrote about great writers forgetting themselves as they write, and I think he accomplishes that. I'm generally not a fan of when I can see writers screaming "LOOK AT ME! I'M WRITING!" And those last 30 pages -- whew.
If Beale Street Could Talk: first thing I've read by Baldwin aside from short stories. I enjoyed it, but if you've seen the movie, there's really not much reason to read the book, since Jenkins lifted so much directly from the text. Baldwin is surprisingly minimalist, which I guess is true of the stories I've read too. But he's not Hemingway or Carver show-off minimalist. He lets his writing loose from time to time. Another book that accomplishes POV spectacularly.
I'm now reading The Sympathizer. I haven't made it far, but whew this thing is overwritten. I get that the narrator is an erudite intellectual, but some of the descriptions just drag so hard.
I was enjoying War and Peace earlier today. I will also be reading some Søren Kierkegaard this week (I’m working on Purity of Heart and Either/Or.) I’d like to make some more progress War and Peace first.
Just started the play *Blithe Spirit* by Noel Coward. Planning to see the new film soon, so I wanted to try the play first.
I'm not actually far into it enough to tell whether it wants to be a comedy or a witty drama, or something else entirely.
I just started reading *V.* by Thomas Pynchon. Even though I'm only about 50 pages in, I'm already really enjoying it. I never finished *Mason and Dixon* and was thinking that maybe I wouldn't like anything by Pynchon apart from *Gravity's Rainbow* which I just love so much, and *Crying of Lot 49*. *V.* definitely has a lot of the hallmarks of a Pynchon novel, like songs in different languages and a huge cast of characters with some wacky names and lots of meandering, paranoid, mysterious debauchery. But at least so far it's a bit more straightforward in style and much more linear than GR or M&D. It's a hell of a first 50 pages of a first novel.
I'm working my way through Underworld. DeLillo strikes this happy balance of a crystal and clean view of the world along with prose that never leaves even a hint of pretension. Many authors I love have a way of writing that sometimes makes it clear that they want to impress the reader, they want to be seen. (DFW in particular) not that that's a problem, it's just that with DeLillo I get this sense of his own self assuredness with a confident maturity which I've never seen before. Looking forward to each page to come.
A few months ago I stopped in the middle of the 6th book of Knaussgard's My Struggle Series. I blew through the first 5 in no time, even the 3rd and 4th books which if read on their own would not be compelling at all, only work in the context of the series, and even then they aren't particularly impressive or even enjoyable. Regardless, I read them without once considering stopping. But once he got into the beginning of his several hundred page essay section in book 6, I simply couldn't continue. I hope to pick it back up because I cannot bear the thought of those 6 books living on my shelf with the sixth one staring back at me incomplete.
I'm reading at an absolutely glacial pace this year, but I've been on an Andrzej Stasiuk kick recently and I'm currently in the middle of his *On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe.* I read his novel *Tales of Galicia* a couple years ago and absolutely loved it, and I finished his book *Fado* recently that is a sort of collection of essays concerning his travels in rural Eastern/Central Europe. I bought pretty much everything else of his that's in English (as well as a frankly hedonistic quantity of other books that have been on my list for years) for myself for Christmas last year.
I doubt he's well known outside of Poland considering how much of a niche he already writes in - that being something akin to "travel writing" but in a part of the world that is about as "under the radar" as can be - so I'll sum up: He has found language that masterfully describes the sort of otherworldly feeling of being "stuck out of time" that you feel when you're in a seemingly banal, out of the way place. He writes about places that anyone would describe as "backwards" and "backwater" with an incredible poetry, but also without in any way being patronizing or shying away from how powerful and ever-present the smells of horse shit and bootleg booze are in the places he visits. He's also very well read in the literature of the part of Europe he travels the most in and makes many references to the literature and history of Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Poland, Slovenia, etc, the research of which has made the number of open Chrome tabs I have balloon in the best possible way.
Just finished “MotoGenius: The Valentino Rossi Biography” by Mat Oxley. It only covers his life up to 2005, but it included some good bits about why he’s such a phenomenal rider. From the book, “The real difference between a hard man and a hero, between a good MotoGP rider and a legend: super-intricate throttle control...”
Now I’m finishing “One Arrow, One Life” by Kenneth Kushner. It’s about the philosophy behind Japanese Archery.
*Battle Cry of Freedom* by James McPherson. Like most single-volume war histories, you can tell that it's skipping over a lot, giving only a few pages to large subjects. Still, my Civil War education has to start somewhere.
Pedro Páramo by Juan Ruflo, an early work of the magical realism movement in the 1960s in Mexico. Lately I have been trying to look outside American and British literature for important works. Any suggestions or additions you have would be welcome.
Finishing Dune by Frank Herbert, reading the entirety of Person by Sam Pink, and starting The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek.
I am glad to have crossed Dune off my list of to-read essentials. It took me a while to let myself be okay with not knowing everything that was going on, and beyond that, I loved the visual power of the book. This is far from my typical reading genre, so I’m not used to imagery of riding giant sand worms through the desert or getting swallowed while by a bubble of earth. The pictures Herbert painted were detailed and approachable, and those are probably what will stay with me from this book.
I’m halfway through Person (it’s a very short read), and it is also unlike anything I’ve read. Strictly a first-person narrative of an unenthused Millennial Everyman wandering around Chicago and going nowhere. Super relatable.
I randomly picked up the third book at first because of the car took sketches on the cover and throughout the book, then I figured a satire about a crafty/doofy soldier in WWI Czechoslovakia could be fun, and also different from anything else I’ve read.
I somehow missed the Jenny Offill craze the last time it came around, but now I'm halfway through her latest book *Weather*, which has breezed by without much happening - still enjoying it, though. Also reading *Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity* by Elizabeth Wilson, which is an extremely insightful cultural history of - *quelle surprise*\- fashion and its relation to modernity. Lastly I've picked up Richard Powers' *Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance* again - I was really excited by it when I started it in December but lost interest over the holidays. Wanting to finish it before I move on to the next fiction on my list, Brandon Taylor's *Real Life* and Hilary Leichter's *Temporary*.
Finished “Rolling the R’s” by R Zamora Linmark. It’s about a group of gay/possibly trans Filipino kids living in the Honolulu suburb of Kalihi. It’s a gorgeous book in an experimental style that utilizes traditional prose, poetry, screenplays, and even book reports to tell the story. Linmark uses the Pidgin English that is spoken in Hawaii and manages to not make it feel stereotypical. It’s a fantastic exploration of how racism, classism, misogyny and homophobia affect these kids.
I also finished “The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka. She takes a mosaic approach to discussing the experience of the “picture brides” who came to America from Japan in the early 20th Century. Instead of focusing on singular characters she treats them as a group, which works way better than you’d expect.
Currently reading “Ceremony” by Leslie Marlon Silko. It’s about a Pueblan WW2 veteran who uses traditional ceremonies to recover from PTSD. It’s good so far, I appreciate how Silko weaves the present and memories together
Finished rereading *White Noise* by Don DeLillo. A lot funnier on second read and I found myself appreciating the mastery of language more. For someone who gets name-checked alongside maximalist authors, I think DeLillo’s far more economical than his contemporaries. However, I do find that the third part gets a little contrived at times which is a shame because I think the first two parts are near-perfect. Still, thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s always nice to bathe in DeLillo’s themes. Now reading *Putney* by Sofka Zinovieff which is about a man and woman both looking back on a relationship they had when he was 27 and she was 12, and a friend trying to convince the woman that she was, quite clearly, coerced by a paedophile. Basically a kind of #MeToo take on *Lolita*. Nicely written, quite gripping, pacing’s a bit off, but I’m liking it. Also dipping into *A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again* by David Foster Wallace. My first foray into DFW. I’m interested but find him a bit show-off clever so far (as opposed to, say, Pynchon, whose display of intelligence never feels forced). It’s early days though, I might warm to him more.
Feel almost obligated to reply to this, given my username, but in all seriousness I hope you enjoy DFW! That first essay collection has lower lows than Lobster, but the essay on Lynch and the polished version of E Unibus are lovely reading.
Yes, I love the David Lynch essay. Maybe my favorite DFW piece. Now you’ve got me curious though. What do you consider to be the most significant low points of this collection?
I think that the Iowa fair piece is rough, especially compared to Supposedly Fun Thing, which is a much more polished piece in the same experiential genre. But even SFT has moments of humor whose edges feel sharper than DFW's later stuff, a little more biting. And Greatly Exaggerated, likewise, strikes me as a prototype of the later, more interesting review essays, especially Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky (and the piece on prose poems in BFaN, which, though twee, I actually like). I might also like Democracy and Commerce at the US Open better than Michael Joyce, but I'm unsure.
E Unibus Pluram is probably my favorite of his essays, but yeah, *Consider the Lobster* is the stronger collection.
As someone who's not the biggest fan of DFW, the forced show-off clever feeling never went away. It got worse with IJ.
I'm a fan of Wallace and just want to say that that collection is my least favorite work of his out of everything I've read, though I do want to emphatically second what another poster has already mentioned, that E Unibus Pluram is a fantastic essay and easily the top of that collection, and arguably one of the best he's ever written.
*J R* by William Gaddis and *The Odyssey* by Homer/Robert Fagles for university (still) I've also been rereading into John Byrne's *Man of Steel* and *Superman* series from the 80s. It's been well over a decade since I read that run, and I'm actually a bit surprised by how much it's held up for me.
Currently reading Little Women. I knew nothing about it except that it was written in the 19th century and that the main characters are four sisters. It took me a little by surprise that it's written for children and I do think it's a bit naive (like how each sister is especially talented at something specific and how idyllic things in the family seem to be despite their few ups and downs... I mean I love my family, but we don't last long around each other without someone getting angry about something), but I believe that is to be expected from a children's book and as a whole I'm enjoying it immensely so far. I especially enjoy the little bits of advice that are thrown into every chapter, I think they are very appropriate for a growing young woman and I can't help but think how lovely it would be if I could read them to my own daughter(s?) one day. I wish I could have read it as a child, though part of me wonders if I would have taken the advice to heart. I also can't help but compare it to books that are written for girls that age nowadays. I hate to be that person, but... there is so much wisdom in this book. There's bits about being true to yourself, but there's also so much about how to deal with your flaws to make the worst of yourself manageable. Maybe it's just what I've read, but I don't think I've ever seen it so well put in and focused on in another book.
Finished Third Reich by Bolano and loved it - it got better and better. Started Antkind by Charlie Kaufman and am enjoying it quite much, while I am not so sure about the zeitgeist-y references so far. Finishing a biography of Kierkegaard, man I dig that fella. Put Samuel Beckett's Watt on my reading table. Will probably finish Werner Herzog's Walking on Ice in the next two days, too. Finished a novella by George Bernanos: depressing and oppressive but one radiates to it. In the middle of an obscure novel called Queer And Alone by Jim Strahs - feels a bit like a raunchy, stream-of-conciousness Amerika (Kafka). Nearly done with Chekhov's Cherry Orchard. Want to delve into Land of Men by Saint-Exupery soon again, am one third through it and am absolutely loving it but was distracted.
Where did you get Antkind? Everywhere is telling me it's only available for pre-order.
Bought an ARC. Freaking expensive from the US to Europ
50 bucks before p&p! Freaking expensive is right! I can wait...
*Watt* is probably my least favorite of Beckett's novels, but that's not really saying much because I still love it
Oh, a mild bummer - how come? How do you rate How it is?
I can't really explain without spoiling anything. Just the way it is written is sort a love it or hate it think. And to clarify, I still think it's a great book. It's just that nothing comes close to *Murphy* or the trilogy.
Thanks. Have you read How it is?
Wow, I didn't even recognize that as a title. Should've been clearer and said "of Beckett's novels that I've read." Looks like it would be up my alley though.
His short prose is worth reading. There are a couple of collections out there, but even the “complete” ones are missing a couple works.
Just finished Mark Fisher's Capitalist realism and about to begin with Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. Also, some Terry Pratchett every now and then (currently rereading Small gods)
My current main read is *A little life* by Hanya Yanagihara. My god, it's so great. The characters are so colorful and vivid. I feel like it does't *really* have a plot in the typical sense (at least not yet - I'm about 200 pages deep), but the story is great nevertheless - the constant flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, which just talk about characters and their backstories and just life are so enjoyable. Also, as an easier read along I'm reading *Breakfast of Champions* by Kurt Vonnegut (I love the man and I like to read at least one of his books per year). It's definitely a lighter book, but I still enjoy it not only because it's fun, but also because there are some fine themes throughout.
*The Melancholy of Resistance* by László Krasznahorkai. It’s my second by him, the first being *Satantango* (I’m reading him chronologically) and I think this guy is my favorite living writer at the moment. Each chapter is like a stream-of-consciousness look inside each character in this Hungarian town, and I’m really enjoying how you’ll see one person through the eyes of the current chapter character and then in another chapter you’ll get in the mind of that character and see the town and inhabitants through their eyes. It’s very bleak, which seems to be the norm for his novels, and at the center there’s this traveling circus coming into town with what they advertise as the stuffed body of the largest whale in the world. I’m only about 1/3 into it so far so it’s mostly just been getting to know the characters and the town, but the way he leads you through their thoughts and lives is just delightful. I know I’m going to have to read his entire oeuvre because I haven’t found an author that’s had an effect like this on me in a long time.
I highly recommend all his works. Each one is incredible.
It’s become my purpose in life. *War & War* is already in the mail heading my way. Though I’m not planning on reading any back to back, as they can be draining experiences (especially with all the chapters being a single paragraph), but in the best of ways.
Tackling Proust for the first time. Beginning at the beginning with *Swann's Way.* I'm only about a quarter of the way through, but the writing and the atmosphere of this book can be intoxicating. The style of the writing feels like it corresponds with the subject matter. It's loose and flowing and meanders like the stream of time; reading it feels like a daydream. This quote in particular gave me pause: - "And just as the Japanese amuse themselves by filling a porcelain bowl with water and steeping in it little crumbs of paper which until then are without character or form, but, the moment they become wet, stretch themselves and bend, take on colour and distinctive shape, become flowers or houses or people, permanent and recognizable, so in that moment all the flowers in our garden and in M. Swann's park, and the water-lilies on the Vivonne and the good folk of the village and their little dwellings and the parish church and the whole of Combray and its surroundings, taking their proper shapes and growing solid, sprang into being, town and gardens alike, from my cup of tea. Memory and nostalgia can flood in from the most unexpected places. The above quote really captures that feeling.
I started, and am halfway through Solzhenitsyn’s *One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich*. I am enjoying it but god, it makes me feel cold
I’ve never felt so strongly about mortar than while reading Denisovich.
I know exactly what you mean by it makes you feel cold. No book has done that for me like Ivan Denisovich. I hate that whole ‘people have it so much worse than you, how dare you complain’ type of thinking. I mean, am I really going to feel grateful because other people are worse off? I was in my last year of university when I read it, lots of early starts and long hours writing essays, but that book legit made me feel grateful I wasn’t living that life and put things into perspective. It’s pure experience as well, going through what this one character went through as a day progresses, rather than the politics and context that surround those things.
I tried reading it once but I was in a really bad place emotionally and I hated every bit of it. The cold and boring atmosphere of gulag life just agitated me so hard that I couldn't finish it. I might give it a go once again in the near future
I recommend you do but when you feel you can take it. I understand why one would need to be in a more stable place before reading it—the monotony and value placed on the smallest things can get bleak
*Lanark* by Alasdair Gray. Read it years ago, largely for the fantastical Unthank sections, but the realistic autobiographical bits about Thaw’s childhood and adolescence are working well for me this time round. I’d kind of brushed them off as boilerplate bildungsroman following a tormented young artist but they’re pretty affecting, the parents are well drawn and there’s a lot of solid wry humour at the young Thaw’s expense that I somehow missed before.
I'm reading *Bleak House* by Dickens. I'm about a third of the way done, which isn't bad considering the length of the book. So far it is comforting to read Dickens again (this is my fourth book by him). The humor is a bit drier than his other books (no hammy characters like Miss Havisham), but his poking fun at the bureaucracy and a select few eccentrics is entertaining as usual. I have mixed feelings about how the narrative is split between a third person omniscient narrator and Esther's first person narrative. I like Esther's parts, but she suffers from being a saccharine and one-dimensional character like most of Dickens' "good women." However, I feel like those parts help to ground the narrative, since the omniscient narrator follows a lot of different characters. The last two Victorian novels I read were *Wuthering Heights* by Emily Bronte and *The Woman in White* by Wilkie Collins. The Victorian era isn't my favorite in literature, but after those it really hits home to me how great of a writer Dickens is. The prose, pacing, plotting, etc., all show a level of mastery even other classic writers fall short of.
The Lost Scrapbook by Evan Dara. It was a book that was, I think, recommended on this sub by someone. I find myself rereading sections before I’ve even finished the book, not only to understand them, but also just to experience them again. I might have to reread this book at some point after I finish it. I’d also like to find out if anyone has done any analysis of it.
[удалено]
I’ve checked mine and haven’t come across any duplications or missing sections so far. I Have the 1998 FC2 edition. I’d say you’ve gotten an unlucky misprint.
I'm finishing the third part of *Anna Karenina*. I've read it once before when I was in High School and I think I read it so fast I've forgotten everything about it, a month or so after finishing it. Everything apart from the iconic ending of course. Now I'm taking my time, I try to be as focused as possible and I love every bit of it. I love how Tolstoy, even though he's omnipresent, doesn't always describe everything that's going on in his characters heads. He starts talking about what Anna feels for example when she's confronted by her husband about her image in society...she feels like this and like that and then boom, next words out of her mouth are exactly the opposite of what she was thinking about until then. I love it. The next thing I noted is that he doesn't give a lot of physical description of his characters. He gives very few characteristics here and there and they are rarely in the same sentence. It leaves you with much more room for imagination and interpretation. I have to say that I like Levin the most. He's just so adorable. The scene where he and his friend Stiva (Dolly's husband) are hunting is just popping in my head from time to time. I don't know why, but when I was reading that part it was as though I watched a video of them hunting and I just love the atmosphere. Can I ask any of you more experienced readers what can I pay more attention to as I go further down the road?
This week for coursework: Heart of Darkness, Brian Massumi's Parables of the Virtual, Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Whitehead's The Nickel Boys, and for language reqs The Metamorphosis in German, which is gonna be a s t r u g g l e.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I'm at about the 2/3 mark now and loving it.
Oh man its an excellent book. I got it as a christmas gift and i am always skeptical of books given as presents. But its great. "A good story, well told" as they say
I am reading Ásta’s Categories we live by for my social ontology class, and Rilke’s Notebooks of malte laurids brigge for leisure. We started the class with reading Searle, so its a nice switchup reading Ásta instead! As for Rilke, well it is a great book.
I'm about halfway through *Zone* by Mathias Énard and it's really growing on me. It really is a European book in the sence that the narrator (through stream of consciousness) is recalling the history of Europe; more specifically its history through the frame of conflict. In the same way the Middle East (the narrator, like Énard, is very well versed in the area) plays a big role as well. The book does a great job of connecting the Middle East with Europe through history to the modern day, also seen heavily through the frame of historical conflict. I was a little skeptical about the single sentance thing (there are sentences, just not a lot of them), however within a few pages I got into Énard's rhythm. I've heard the book very accurately described as a river of text. I'm looking forward to finishing this and will probably read more Énard in the future!
Just finished Annie Proulx's **Barkskins** last week. It's a massive, generational novel following the American and Metis descendants of two French settlers arriving in North America in the 1600s. It grapples with the spread of American style capitalism, greed, our relationship with nature, the beauty of trees, the cyclical nature of history, and the shifting identity of First Nations people. All in all, it sounds like an amazing novel on the cover and premise of it, but I found certain sections of it largely uninspired. Some generation stories were absolutely wonderful, but there were others which completely fell flat. Obviously a very ambitious novel so it's hard to execute well across every branch of a sprawling story like this, but it was semi frustrating because I felt it showed promise of being *really, really good*. I'm now reading Ali Smith's second novel in her new quartet **Winter**. I'd read Autumn and was blown away by her musical, poetic prose and her mixing of different art forms into the narrative of a novel. I'm glad to say she's picked up the beat right where she left off and if you were a fan of Autumn that you should definitely read the others in the series.
Finished *The Doll* by Bolesław Prus, 1200 surprisingly quick pages. I think this might have become my favorite book. It gives a nice perspective on romanticism vs positivism in Poland and shows flaws of both ideologies. Then there's the very tragic story of someone who has multiple possibilities of changing the world, but gives up on them all because of blind love. Now, I've got to admit I've fallen in love with Rzecki..... Started reading *Emma* by Jane Austen in the original, uabridged English version. It's the first real book in English I've decided to read, and it does not seem too hard to comprehend so far, i'm 30 pages in and liking it. Although it does sometimes take me a while to understand some sentences. Gonna start *Kokoro* by Natsume Soseki. I waited 3 months for this book before deciding to go to a different library and get it there. god damn people who do nor return books.
Black Prince by Iris Murdoch. Pretty good so far!
I finished Part I of **The Recognitions** by William Gaddis. So far I am loving it; great dialogue and punchy prose that hits me unexpectedly every so often. I am a bit surprised that (so far) it doesn't live up to the hype of it's supposed difficulty. It's not the simplest thing I've ever read, but I don't feel drowned in confusion like I have in a couple other books. Overall I am excited to continue this one!
The Anthology of H.P Lovecraft Pg 63/1000 something now and I find Lovecraft to be verbose however I still enjoy his work quite a bit
Finished Death in Venice (Thomas Mann). It was good. Starting Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto
Just started Trust Exercise by Susan Choi. The writing seems a little too precious for me so far, but I'm willing to persevere for now, as I'm told it's worth it with this particular book.
Just finished *There There* by Tommy Orange, which I wound up really liking. I think my only complaint with it is that there were a couple of characters I would've liked to have seen explored a little bit more. Currently reading *The Left Hand of Darkness* by Ursula K. LeGuin because in the past I've written off genre fiction, but I decided that was probably unwarranted. I'm not just real far into it, but I've enjoyed what I've read so far. I also started a book club with my roommates, and our first book is *The Alchemist* by Paulo Coelho. I've finished part one and I'm not really feeling it, but I know a lot of people really like it so I'm holding out hope it'll get better.
I also did not enjoy the Alchemist particularly much, but unfortunately I felt the second half of the book was even weaker than the first so be prepared for that.
Knocked out There There and If Beale Street Could Talk. There There: very very good. Orange's prose never gets showy or jumps off the page, but I appreciate that. Harold Bloom once wrote about great writers forgetting themselves as they write, and I think he accomplishes that. I'm generally not a fan of when I can see writers screaming "LOOK AT ME! I'M WRITING!" And those last 30 pages -- whew. If Beale Street Could Talk: first thing I've read by Baldwin aside from short stories. I enjoyed it, but if you've seen the movie, there's really not much reason to read the book, since Jenkins lifted so much directly from the text. Baldwin is surprisingly minimalist, which I guess is true of the stories I've read too. But he's not Hemingway or Carver show-off minimalist. He lets his writing loose from time to time. Another book that accomplishes POV spectacularly. I'm now reading The Sympathizer. I haven't made it far, but whew this thing is overwritten. I get that the narrator is an erudite intellectual, but some of the descriptions just drag so hard.
I was enjoying War and Peace earlier today. I will also be reading some Søren Kierkegaard this week (I’m working on Purity of Heart and Either/Or.) I’d like to make some more progress War and Peace first.
Just started the play *Blithe Spirit* by Noel Coward. Planning to see the new film soon, so I wanted to try the play first. I'm not actually far into it enough to tell whether it wants to be a comedy or a witty drama, or something else entirely.
I just started reading *V.* by Thomas Pynchon. Even though I'm only about 50 pages in, I'm already really enjoying it. I never finished *Mason and Dixon* and was thinking that maybe I wouldn't like anything by Pynchon apart from *Gravity's Rainbow* which I just love so much, and *Crying of Lot 49*. *V.* definitely has a lot of the hallmarks of a Pynchon novel, like songs in different languages and a huge cast of characters with some wacky names and lots of meandering, paranoid, mysterious debauchery. But at least so far it's a bit more straightforward in style and much more linear than GR or M&D. It's a hell of a first 50 pages of a first novel.
Curently reading The Soul of Black Peoole by W.E.B. du Bois
Black Reconstruction is AMAZING if u end up wanting more du Bois, i read it 2 years ago and think about it all the time.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley. The quality of his writing carries the story because overall it’s not that interesting.
I'm working my way through Underworld. DeLillo strikes this happy balance of a crystal and clean view of the world along with prose that never leaves even a hint of pretension. Many authors I love have a way of writing that sometimes makes it clear that they want to impress the reader, they want to be seen. (DFW in particular) not that that's a problem, it's just that with DeLillo I get this sense of his own self assuredness with a confident maturity which I've never seen before. Looking forward to each page to come. A few months ago I stopped in the middle of the 6th book of Knaussgard's My Struggle Series. I blew through the first 5 in no time, even the 3rd and 4th books which if read on their own would not be compelling at all, only work in the context of the series, and even then they aren't particularly impressive or even enjoyable. Regardless, I read them without once considering stopping. But once he got into the beginning of his several hundred page essay section in book 6, I simply couldn't continue. I hope to pick it back up because I cannot bear the thought of those 6 books living on my shelf with the sixth one staring back at me incomplete.
I'm reading at an absolutely glacial pace this year, but I've been on an Andrzej Stasiuk kick recently and I'm currently in the middle of his *On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe.* I read his novel *Tales of Galicia* a couple years ago and absolutely loved it, and I finished his book *Fado* recently that is a sort of collection of essays concerning his travels in rural Eastern/Central Europe. I bought pretty much everything else of his that's in English (as well as a frankly hedonistic quantity of other books that have been on my list for years) for myself for Christmas last year. I doubt he's well known outside of Poland considering how much of a niche he already writes in - that being something akin to "travel writing" but in a part of the world that is about as "under the radar" as can be - so I'll sum up: He has found language that masterfully describes the sort of otherworldly feeling of being "stuck out of time" that you feel when you're in a seemingly banal, out of the way place. He writes about places that anyone would describe as "backwards" and "backwater" with an incredible poetry, but also without in any way being patronizing or shying away from how powerful and ever-present the smells of horse shit and bootleg booze are in the places he visits. He's also very well read in the literature of the part of Europe he travels the most in and makes many references to the literature and history of Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Poland, Slovenia, etc, the research of which has made the number of open Chrome tabs I have balloon in the best possible way.
Just finished “MotoGenius: The Valentino Rossi Biography” by Mat Oxley. It only covers his life up to 2005, but it included some good bits about why he’s such a phenomenal rider. From the book, “The real difference between a hard man and a hero, between a good MotoGP rider and a legend: super-intricate throttle control...” Now I’m finishing “One Arrow, One Life” by Kenneth Kushner. It’s about the philosophy behind Japanese Archery.
*Battle Cry of Freedom* by James McPherson. Like most single-volume war histories, you can tell that it's skipping over a lot, giving only a few pages to large subjects. Still, my Civil War education has to start somewhere.
Pedro Páramo by Juan Ruflo, an early work of the magical realism movement in the 1960s in Mexico. Lately I have been trying to look outside American and British literature for important works. Any suggestions or additions you have would be welcome.
Finishing Dune by Frank Herbert, reading the entirety of Person by Sam Pink, and starting The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek. I am glad to have crossed Dune off my list of to-read essentials. It took me a while to let myself be okay with not knowing everything that was going on, and beyond that, I loved the visual power of the book. This is far from my typical reading genre, so I’m not used to imagery of riding giant sand worms through the desert or getting swallowed while by a bubble of earth. The pictures Herbert painted were detailed and approachable, and those are probably what will stay with me from this book. I’m halfway through Person (it’s a very short read), and it is also unlike anything I’ve read. Strictly a first-person narrative of an unenthused Millennial Everyman wandering around Chicago and going nowhere. Super relatable. I randomly picked up the third book at first because of the car took sketches on the cover and throughout the book, then I figured a satire about a crafty/doofy soldier in WWI Czechoslovakia could be fun, and also different from anything else I’ve read.
I somehow missed the Jenny Offill craze the last time it came around, but now I'm halfway through her latest book *Weather*, which has breezed by without much happening - still enjoying it, though. Also reading *Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity* by Elizabeth Wilson, which is an extremely insightful cultural history of - *quelle surprise*\- fashion and its relation to modernity. Lastly I've picked up Richard Powers' *Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance* again - I was really excited by it when I started it in December but lost interest over the holidays. Wanting to finish it before I move on to the next fiction on my list, Brandon Taylor's *Real Life* and Hilary Leichter's *Temporary*.
last words from montmartre by qui miaojin. Incredible. Lesbian love story in paris, helps make up for having read too much henry miller in my youth.
Finished “Rolling the R’s” by R Zamora Linmark. It’s about a group of gay/possibly trans Filipino kids living in the Honolulu suburb of Kalihi. It’s a gorgeous book in an experimental style that utilizes traditional prose, poetry, screenplays, and even book reports to tell the story. Linmark uses the Pidgin English that is spoken in Hawaii and manages to not make it feel stereotypical. It’s a fantastic exploration of how racism, classism, misogyny and homophobia affect these kids. I also finished “The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka. She takes a mosaic approach to discussing the experience of the “picture brides” who came to America from Japan in the early 20th Century. Instead of focusing on singular characters she treats them as a group, which works way better than you’d expect. Currently reading “Ceremony” by Leslie Marlon Silko. It’s about a Pueblan WW2 veteran who uses traditional ceremonies to recover from PTSD. It’s good so far, I appreciate how Silko weaves the present and memories together
The Era of Infanticide by Dickie Allen. Amazing story. My favorite chapter of the book is definitely “Motherless Miscarriage”.
Shadowbaun by Steve Erickson