ghost of miles Posted December 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2019 On 12/7/2019 at 7:42 AM, sidewinder said: Just found an original copy of this gem in Oxfam. Superb stuff - turns out that this is the ex Surrey Library copy. Now has a good home. Many interesting articles, including early reviews of 60s Blue Notes, Nessa releases etc. Excellent Williams collection! Finishing this right now: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted December 21, 2019 Report Share Posted December 21, 2019 Ta - Nehisi Coates: The Water Dancer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Just getting into Rushdie's The Golden House. Interesting so far. After this His Only Son/Doña Berta by Leopoldo Alas (NYRB), then it will probably be back to William Maxwell and Dawn Powell. However, I do have a copy of Mann's The Magic Mountain in the newish translation by John Woods (supposed to be much better than other translations) wending its way to me, and I'll try to tackle that this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 47 minutes ago, ghost of miles said: The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay remains one of my all time favorite books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 5 hours ago, ghost of miles said: Good book. Has some structural resemblance to David Benioff's "City of Thieves". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 (edited) Last of the Old Guard by Louis Auchincloss. Nice novel by Auchincloss, a writer that I discovered this year. Never thought I would like his writing as much as I do, with his concern for wealthy, old families of the upper class New York, reeking of Boarding Schools, law firms and loveless marriages of convenience, all written in that "New Yorker" style that most East Cost writers seemed to have from that era. However, he turns out to be much better writer than I imagined and I'm enjoying the novels and short stories that I've read so far. Edited December 25, 2019 by Matthew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 33 minutes ago, Matthew said: Last of the Old Guard by Louis Auchincloss. Nice novel by Auchincloss, a writer that I discovered this year. Never thought I would like his writing as much as I do, with his concern for wealthy, old families of the upper class New York, reeking of Boarding Schools, law firms and loveless marriages of convenience, all written in that "New Yorker" style that most East Cost writers seemed to have from that era. However, he turns out to be much better writer than I imagined and I'm enjoying the novels and short stories that I've read so far. I had the same surprised reaction from the one Auchincloss novel I've read, "Diary of a Yuppie." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 30, 2019 Report Share Posted December 30, 2019 His latest magnum opus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 There were quite a few interesting aspects of Rushdie's The Golden House, but I ended up with a fairly strong dislike of the narrator, Rene, and his actions towards the end of the novel seemed both unbelievable and unforgivable, so it did spoil the novel to a significant extent. Working my way into His Only Son by Leopoldo Alas. I'm struggling with this one as it features a not terribly interesting character making terrible life choices. I'll probably give it another 50 pages, then bail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 11 hours ago, ejp626 said: There were quite a few interesting aspects of Rushdie's The Golden House, but I ended up with a fairly strong dislike of the narrator, Rene, and his actions towards the end of the novel seemed both unbelievable and unforgivable, so it did spoil the novel to a significant extent. Working my way into His Only Son by Leopoldo Alas. I'm struggling with this one as it features a not terribly interesting character making terrible life choices. I'll probably give it another 50 pages, then bail. I haven’t tried that one but I always had this image of Clarin (his pseudonym) as difficult to read. Speaking of Spanish authors, have you ever read Tristana by Perez Galdos. There is a nice translation by NYRB Classics. Received the following over the holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Really enjoying this so far, and numerous jazz references in the opening chapters that describe the club scene of 1940s/50s L.A.: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 7 hours ago, Brad said: Speaking of Spanish authors, have you ever read Tristana by Perez Galdos. There is a nice translation by NYRB Classics. I have not. I might give it a try, though it would be at the end of a long list... Despite my misgivings, I did order a copy of Alas's La Regenta (mostly because the library didn't have a circulating copy!), though I've heard the plot borrows heavily from Madame Bovary. I am still waiting on Mann's The Magic Mountain, as well as for the library copy of Dawn Powell's This Happy Island. I suspect the next book I actually tackle will be Rushdie's Quichotte. (Third time lucky? As I said, I've liked aspects of the other two I've just read, but wasn't completely satisfied with either.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted January 3, 2020 Report Share Posted January 3, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 On 12/1/2019 at 11:03 AM, ejp626 said: That's interesting. Many Austen scholars consider it her finest work. I actually have not gotten around to it, but it is on my list. Despite its killer first line, I definitely preferred Sense and Sensibility over Pride and Prejudice. I was at the movies tonight and they showed coming attractions for a movie based on the novel, coming out in February. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 (edited) At Play in the Lions' Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan by Jim Forest. Just happened to be re-reading this book, and with the current events, it's more timely than ever. Berrigan's life was totally committed to peace & justice, never allowing institutions to control him, but always striving to live a free and encouraging life. Edited January 4, 2020 by Matthew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/04/gods-caravan Ever so vaguely (but insistently) puts me in mind of Sun Ra, or at least one element of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) I just finished Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher book, "Blue Moon". Over-the-top-Rambo is pretty standard for Child's Reacher books but this one goes way, way over the top... maybe even to the moon. Even though the bullets were flying and blood was spraying all over the place, I actually laughed out loud at one of the gun fights because I was picturing Weird Al the whole time. Edited January 7, 2020 by bresna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 Valeria Luiselli: Lost Children Archive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 In the end, I really didn't like His Only Son and skipped out partway through. However, the novella, Doña Berta, included in the NYRB volume, is worth a look. I did enjoy Rushdie's most recent novel, Quichotte. However, this is even more meta-textual than most of his novels (with "The Author" introducing himself a couple of chapters in), so if you are looking for a straight-forward novel, then I would avoid this. (At some point, maybe in the late spring, I really ought to read the Grossman translation of Don Quixote.) It looks like it will be Mann's Magic Mountain next and then probably Powell's The Happy Island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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