Now reading...

[BillF]

23 minutes ago, Leeway said:

DeLillo's still-amazing riff on modern society and culture. 

Agreed. Have you tried Underworld?

[Leeway]

I've read several other books by DeLillo (Mao II, Libra, Great Jones Street--all of which I dug) but not Underworld--yet. Do have a copy at hand, so expect I will take it on this year. 

[BillF]

At over 800 pages Underworld looked forbidding, but I found it surprisingly readable. A very major statement.

[paul secor]

Henri-Pierre Roché: Two English Girls and the Continent

[ejp626]

19 hours ago, Leeway said:

I've read several other books by DeLillo (Mao II, Libra, Great Jones Street--all of which I dug) but not Underworld--yet. Do have a copy at hand, so expect I will take it on this year. 

I've certainly enjoyed DeLillo novels and think White Noise is an incredible book.  I have plans to reread it, though it falls far enough down the list, it won't be until early 2017!  Anyway, I wasn't that taken with Underworld and can't remember all that much about it.  I think he was trying a bit too hard to emulate Pynchon here.

I'm wrapping up Elizabeth Hardwick's Sleepless Nights (NYRB), which is a weird hybrid of memoir and fiction.  There's a section where Hardwick discusses seeing Billie Holliday perform and then becoming a bit of a devotee, even meeting her offstage and then at Billie's hotel.  It's hard to tell how much truth there is here, but I am having trouble seeing it as accurate.  The book at least so far is largely confided to Hardwick's doings in New York in the 50s and 60s.

After this, I move back two decades or so to New York of the 1930s with Tess Slessinger's The Unpossessed (also NYRB).

Edited February 12, 2016 by ejp626

[BFrank]

Just finishing this. Hilarious!

[BillF]

1 hour ago, BFrank said:

Just finishing this. Hilarious!

[Jazzmoose]

Must have had a two hour epilogue... 

 

I haven't been posting on this thread much lately, but I felt obligated to mention the book I just finished.  I raved here about Alec Effinger's What Entropy Means to Me as a great example of the New Wave period, so it's only fair to point out one that is an example of the period's failings.  I'm talking about Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Baron.  Now, I've read, and enjoyed, a fair amount of Spinrad's work.  I find his short story collections to be more worthwhile than his novels by far (with the exception of one:  Childe of Fortune-highly recommended!), as in the novel format he gets a bit...well, silly.  Bug Jack Baron goes beyond silliness into stupidity.  Of course, that can happen when you populate your book with two-dimensional characters and spend 80% of your prose "being cool".  As usual with Spinrad, there are some great ideas; you just wish another writer was exploring them.

[crisp]

On 12 February 2016 at 7:37 PM, BFrank said:

Just finishing this. Hilarious!

Dixon was alive again. Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the way; not for him the slow, gracious wandering from the halls of sleep, but a summary, forcible ejection. He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of the morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth has been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by a secret police. He felt bad.

Doesn't get better than that

[BillF]

35 minutes ago, crisp said:

Dixon was alive again. Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the way; not for him the slow, gracious wandering from the halls of sleep, but a summary, forcible ejection. He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of the morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth has been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by a secret police. He felt bad.

Doesn't get better than that

Classic passage!

[BFrank]

It's definitely one that I will need to read again (and again).

[A Lark Ascending]

Follows a brother of the principal character of his earlier 'The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty.' A book where the main character tells his tale as a chap with good intentions yet is revealed to have done some pretty dreadful things.

 

I read a lot of Cold War thrillers and generally have a 'that was good but a bit far-fetched' reaction. Reading this it seems most of them are far from far-fetched. Unbelievable the way that Philby manipulated the old school tie and gentleman's club prejudices of MI6 to stay in the game so long.

 

Now onto this. I read a couple of his classic 60s novels about 20 years back (and have read a couple of his more recent things since). Had quite forgotten how good he is - the understatement, avoidance of leaning too heavily on exact historical events and, above all, the way he captures a rather threadbare, pre-Habitat (very pre-IKEA) Britain. In the light of the Philby book his handling of the snobberies and nasty rivalries within the British Establishment seem spot on.   

[BillF]

2 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Follows a brother of the principal character of his earlier 'The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty.' A book where the main character tells his tale as a chap with good intentions yet is revealed to have done some pretty dreadful things.

 

I read a lot of Cold War thrillers and generally have a 'that was good but a bit far-fetched' reaction. Reading this it seems most of them are far from far-fetched. Unbelievable the way that Philby manipulated the old school tie and gentleman's club prejudices of MI6 to stay in the game so long.

 

Now onto this. I read a couple of his classic 60s novels about 20 years back (and have read a couple of his more recent things since). Had quite forgotten how good he is - the understatement, avoidance of leaning too heavily on exact historical events and, above all, the way he captures a rather threadbare, pre-Habitat (very pre-IKEA) Britain. In the light of the Philby book his handling of the snobberies and nasty rivalries within the British Establishment seem spot on.   

Wonderful book and excellent film made of it, too. Probaby Le Carré was at his best in these early books - but only just! The amazing thing is that he's retained his writing skills remarkably well into old age and a new book appears every few years. I've read just about all of them and haven't come across a dud; in fact some of the late ones are fascinating as JLC keeps up with current trends in politics and international relations.

Edited February 14, 2016 by BillF

[A Lark Ascending]

5 hours ago, BillF said:

Wonderful book and excellent film made of it, too. Probaby Le Carré was at his best in these early books - but only just! The amazing thing is that he's retained his writing skills remarkably well into old age and a new book appears every few years. I've read just about all of them and haven't come across a dud; in fact some of the late ones are fascinating as JLC keeps up with current trends in politics and international relations.

I cannot for the life of me remember the names of the two recent ones I read but recall enjoying them. I'll remember when I read them again and realise thirty pages in that I've read this before. From my limited experience I think the thing the earlier books have is that grey, bleakness. I thought the recent TTSS film caught that extremely well - not just the visuals but in the tense, self-doubting personalities of the characters. I'm going to try working through chronologically over the next few years (there are couple of short early one's I've missed too). 

Recall enjoying the film of 'The Constant Gardener' (which is on the TV this Friday - I'll record it because it's been a while). Another book that really impressed me in this sort of genre was 'The Quiet American'. Need to read some more Greene.   

[BillF]

23 minutes ago, A Lark Ascending said:

I cannot for the life of me remember the names of the two recent ones I read but recall enjoying them. I'll remember when I read them again and realise thirty pages in that I've read this before. From my limited experience I think the thing the earlier books have is that grey, bleakness. I thought the recent TTSS film caught that extremely well - not just the visuals but in the tense, self-doubting personalities of the characters. I'm going to try working through chronologically over the next few years (there are couple of short early one's I've missed too). 

Recall enjoying the film of 'The Constant Gardener' (which is on the TV this Friday - I'll record it because it's been a while). Another book that really impressed me in this sort of genre was 'The Quiet American'. Need to read some more Greene.   

Quiet American is a masterpiece. BTW quick way of finding if you've read a Le Carré (or whatever) before is to put the name into Wikipedia - they usually give plot summaries. I find this very useful with films - so many seen and so many titles forgotten!

[Jazzjet]

On 2/13/2016 at 8:14 PM, crisp said:

Dixon was alive again. Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the way; not for him the slow, gracious wandering from the halls of sleep, but a summary, forcible ejection. He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of the morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth has been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by a secret police. He felt bad.

Doesn't get better than that

Classic indeed although P.G. Wodehouse runs him close, albeit in a lighter vein.

[BillF]

[Brad]

On Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 2:59 PM, Niko said:

imho, if you wish to proceed with Roth, I would read one of the books about the "Jewish villages in the East" next, like Tarabas, Hiob, Weight and Measure (my favorite) or Leviathan - the other "gone world" Roth knew very well ...  the remaining parts of the Trotta saga (without explicit Trottas) are The String of Pearls (his last novel, set in 19th century Vienna but with a similar hero, Franz Taitinger) and The Flight without End (a relatively early  novel where Franz is still called "Tunda" instead of "Trotta" and where you can still feel Roth as one of the best-paid journalists of his time) (the later works are not novels written by a journalist but rather novels where stuff just happens - the earlier ones like Hotel Savoy or Flight without End are an interesting contrast)

Thanks.  I recently picked up Rebellion but haven't started it yet.

19 hours ago, BillF said:

There was an article about her in the November 30 edition of the New Yorker, focusing on "Carol."

On Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 3:14 PM, crisp said:

Dixon was alive again. Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the way; not for him the slow, gracious wandering from the halls of sleep, but a summary, forcible ejection. He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of the morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth has been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by a secret police. He felt bad.

Doesn't get better than that

Wonderful book.

[BFrank]

I used to be a huge Highsmith fan and read a lot of her books back in the 70s-80s. First became aware of her from Wim Wender's "American Friend" (based on Ripley's Game). I soon realized that a lot of the books repeated the plot lines of individuals getting caught up in some nefarious crime that they weren't able to get themselves out of.

[medjuck]

2 hours ago, BFrank said:

I used to be a huge Highsmith fan and read a lot of her books back in the 70s-80s. First became aware of her from Wim Wender's "American Friend" (based on Ripley's Game). I soon realized that a lot of the books repeated the plot lines of individuals getting caught up in some nefarious crime that they weren't able to get themselves out of.

Almost exactly the same for me.  BTW There is a new Criterion Blu Ray of American Friend. 

[BFrank]

2 hours ago, medjuck said:

Almost exactly the same for me.  BTW There is a new Criterion Blu Ray of American Friend. 

I just saw that! I have it in DVD, but will probably have to get the BluRay now. It's one of my favorite films.

[A Lark Ascending]

When I saw Carey's TV documentary based on his "The Intellectuals and the Masses: Pride and Prejudice among the Literary Intelligentsia, 1880–1939" I found myself punching the air again and again and shouting 'Yes!". Subsequently read the book and his equally entertaining "What Good are the Arts?" He seemed to articulate all my chippy irritation with the world of 'The Arts', whilst still valuing and enjoying what lay within.

This is an autobiography of how he went from a modest background (though not that modest...a middle class family that had fallen on slightly harder times) into Oxford (via National Service) and then a career in academia. As with so many biographies the early years are the most interesting - London in the 30s/40s, Nottinghamshire briefly during the war, National service, life as a student and then his early career. His descriptions of the utterly bizarre rituals of Oxford in the 1950s are hilarious. Amazing to think that the Oxford English syllabus stopped in the early 1800s at that time (Michael Gove would approve!) - part of the book describes how the syllabus was slowly dragged into the Victorian era in the 60s and then into the 20thC. 

He doesn't linger on his combative challenging of the world of 'The Arts' but mainly communicates his love of literature. Last quarter of the book is less interesting - summaries of books he wrote (and the reactions to them) and books he reviewed.   

Where I fall out with him is in his rosey-eyed faith in the grammar school system - he describes comprehensivisation as a barbaric tragedy. At this point he appears to join the very people he's spent the last twenty years criticising - all the research into the role of grammar schools completely undermines the myth of their being a means of social mobility for clever poor kids. Anyway, he should be delighted today as current educational policy is recreating grammar schools by the back door. 

Edited February 18, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[ejp626]

In the home stretch of Slesinger's The Unpossessed.  I'm fairly sure this is the second go-around, but it is making a bigger impression on me this time around, mostly looking at how frankly foolish she makes these various dreamers and schemers.  The basic plot is that there is a small group of New York leftist intellectuals who have been debating starting a radical magazine for ages when one of them cons an upper middle class patroness into backing the magazine, starting with the purchase of a filing cabinet.  This woman and her husband then throw a big party to raise money for the magazine and also for the Hunger Marchers.  This is all set in the early 1930s, BTW.

Of course, Slesinger is far more interested in the relationships between people and how love, lust and antipathy are far more motivating than party politics, though that plays a role as well, particularly when the young acolytes keep pressing for a harder left stance than the original triumvirate started from.  The way Slesinger writes about these internal motivations seem derived from Freudian analysis, so that might be a bit of a turn-off for some people.  There is a fair bit of humor throughout, as well as the influence of Ulysses and Eliot's The Waste Land (and Dostoevsky's Demons as well).  It's an interesting novel with a number of characters I don't care about very much.  Personally, I would have liked it a bit more if it were zanier, particularly when the file cabinet is delivered.

This was reasonably popular among the New York intellectuals (at least those that could stand to poke a bit of fun at themselves) particularly Lionel Trilling, but it was despised by the New Masses crowd (presumably since it was taken as a personal attack on them).  Trilling actually wrote an Afterward to The Unpossessed, but it is quite hard to come by (still working on it).  I'm really surprised NYRB didn't manage to acquire the rights to republish it, but that's the case.*

After this, Bharati Mukherjee's Miss New India.

* Actually it turns out the Trilling piece is not that hard to come by.  It is titled "A Novel of the 30s" and is reprinted a few places, including in The Last Decade.  It is still weird how hard it is to find an edition of The Unpossessed with this afterward, however.

 

Edited February 18, 2016 by ejp626

[Brad]

As some of you may know I'm reading War and Peace.  I also picked up Give War and Peace A Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times by Andrew Kaufman, a Tolstoy expert, and am reading it along with War and Peace.

[Leeway]

A STRANGE BUSINESS: A Revolution in Art, Culture, and Commerce in 19th Century London.  By James Hamilton.

A very interesting book with keen insights into the making of art and money in 19th century England (it often roves beyond London). I learned a lot about the nitty-gritty of the art business. One criticism I would make is that occasionally the welter of names, places and art works can become a little overwhelming, but overall quite informative and thought-provoking.