Pete C Posted July 24, 2012 Report Posted July 24, 2012 I like the verbal exuberance of those 2 earlier ones, but I think the two books I mentioned keep that with more sociopolitical gravitas and more control of structure. Quote
ejp626 Posted July 24, 2012 Report Posted July 24, 2012 I like the verbal exuberance of those 2 earlier ones, but I think the two books I mentioned keep that with more sociopolitical gravitas and more control of structure. Haven't read Mumbo Jumbo, but honestly Flight to Canada struck me as an Afro-centric version of "We Didn't Start the Fire" put through a blender. I definitely wasn't in the right frame of mind for it, that's for sure. Quote
Pete C Posted July 24, 2012 Report Posted July 24, 2012 Mumbo Jumbo would have a special resonance for anyone familiar with the sociopolitical climate and cultural criticisms surrounding early jazz. Quote
ejp626 Posted July 25, 2012 Report Posted July 25, 2012 Also started These Festive Nights (Soifs) by Marie-Claire Blais. Too early to say how I'll like it. So I returned to this and got a few pages in when it struck me that while it starts off looking like all interior monologue, the perspective must keep changing. One starts off in the head of the wife of a youngish judge (on vaction) but then you are definitely in the head of a conservative priest (presumably a Protestant denomination as he has a son (turning into a thug) and two whorish daughters -- his thoughts not mine). So it is sort of a very dizzying omniscient narrator perspective. Added to this most sentence run on for a page or two. And then it struck me, there are no paragraph breaks in the entire 300 page book! I'm not sure that Garcia Marquez was particularly well-served by this in Autumn of the Patriarch -- the final chapter is a 30+ page long sentence (and obviously no paragraph markings). But he leads you to this point gradually. I'm really turned off by this (particularly in the Blais book). It just screams "I am a serious, serious author and I can't be bound by convention or even giving readers a bit of structure to help them into the narrative." I'll probably go another 25 or so pages to see if I can get past this, but I'd say I will probably bail. I'm not an English lit major anymore, and I no longer have to read such self-important fiction. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted July 27, 2012 Report Posted July 27, 2012 Martin O'Brien - Blood Counts Another excellent yarn based round a Marseilles based detective. Alan Hurst - Spies of the Balkans Latest in Hurst's seemingly endless succession of books set in and around WWII. Eric Siblin - The Cello Suites And best of all: Sam Willis - The Fighting Temeraire - superb history of both the ship captured by Turner as it was towed to its death bed and it's predecessor, captured from the French in the 7 Years War. Really gets to grips with just how hard it was to sail one of these boats; and amazes with how sophisticated the logistical organisation was in the 18thC. Quote
paul secor Posted July 27, 2012 Report Posted July 27, 2012 The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant This thing is as big as the Bible - 45 years worth of stories. I'd never read any of her work before I picked this up from the library. I've skipped around and read 8 or 9 stories and have liked what I've read so far. Quote
ejp626 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) Working my way through lots of books that I have collected and should have read but haven't. Currently on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. I gather it picks up steam after the first half when Catherine finally makes it to the titular Abbey. Up to that point, the comedy of manners is a bit strained. I realize this was a very early work for Austen, but I am just not engaged. With Pride and Prejudice, it takes a while to get into the spirit of the story, but not 100 pages! Decided to give up on the newest Blais books for the time being. They just strike me as too slavishly imitative of V. Woolf. Have a long trip coming up in a couple of weeks, and I plan on bringing Skorvecky's The Engineers of Human Souls (finally). Edited July 29, 2012 by ejp626 Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted July 29, 2012 Report Posted July 29, 2012 Patrick O'Brian - Master and Commander Tried this about ten years back and got overwhelmed by the rigging. Enjoying it much more this time (though I could still do with a very detailed labelled diagram of the ship - hope to find a good guide in Plymouth later in the week. The book shops there are strong on nautical stuff) Quote
crisp Posted July 30, 2012 Report Posted July 30, 2012 The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith. I keep meaning to read more Highsmith and this one was in the flat, so here goes. It's another "sinister gooseberry" novel, ie, about a sexually ambivalent third party who latches on to a couple in peril for obscure reasons. About a third of the way through it's starting to feel like an account of a typical Greek holiday with a low-energy murder-manhunt attached. Well written, so I'll stick with it. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted August 1, 2012 Report Posted August 1, 2012 Indeed, Arnaldur Indriðasonur is also my countryman. I'm a twofer. Danish name dropping? How Bohring... Quote
ejp626 Posted August 1, 2012 Report Posted August 1, 2012 Just a quick update -- am really disliking Northanger Abbey. The main character is such a stupid drip. I realize this is the point of the novel (she is overly influenced by romance novels), but it is so tedious to read. If this was the first Austen I had ever read, I can't imagine going on to the others. Curiously, I have won a great big box of books by Canadian authors (from reviewing Canadian books on another blog). Most I'll pass on to others or donate to the library, but I'll try to make my way through Michael Crummey's Galore and The Sea Captain's Wife by Beth Powning. Quote
BillF Posted August 1, 2012 Report Posted August 1, 2012 Just a quick update -- am really disliking Northanger Abbey. The main character is such a stupid drip. I realize this is the point of the novel (she is overly influenced by romance novels), but it is so tedious to read. If this was the first Austen I had ever read, I can't imagine going on to the others. Agreed! I could only cope with Austen when my reading led to an exam: "Analyse satirical techniques in ...", etc. Even my university tutor - and his subject was English Literature - said, "After reading Austen, I feel like taking a bath in Rabelais"! Quote
Pete C Posted August 1, 2012 Report Posted August 1, 2012 (edited) I'm a twofer. But not a Keepnews twofer! Indeed, Arnaldur Indriðasonur is also my countryman. I'm a twofer. Danish name dropping? How Bohring... That one is Icelandic name dropping. Edited August 1, 2012 by Pete C Quote
sidewinder Posted August 5, 2012 Report Posted August 5, 2012 Fascinating homage to a road I use pretty well every day. Subject of a pretty good TV documentary too ! Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted August 5, 2012 Report Posted August 5, 2012 Fascinating homage to a road I use pretty well every day. Subject of a pretty good TV documentary too ! Saw that in Waterstones in Exeter (the only shopping mall in Britain with its own medieval cathedral!) yesterday - looked intriguing. Think it was one of our routes to civilisation when I was a kid. Currently reading a bio of Francis Drake by John Sugden. Very detailed and interesting but I'm sceptical about has attempts to distance Drake from the savagery and racism of the era. About to commence the second Patrick O'Brian Jack Aubrey novel - utterly captivated by the first, especially the description at the end of the Battle of Algeciras as viewed (up to a point) from Gibraltar. I'm usually a bit wary of historical fiction set much more than 100 years ago. Often comes across as contemporary people with contemporary mindsets in fancy dress. But O'Brian is completely convincing - and the book had so many dimensions apart from the nautical adventure story. Quote
ejp626 Posted August 7, 2012 Report Posted August 7, 2012 Travels with my Aunt I'd say this is actually my favorite of all of Greene's books. At any rate, it is the only one that I have kept on my shelves. I'm planning in a couple of years to read Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and then pair it with the more overtly comic Travels with my Aunt. Quote
BillF Posted August 7, 2012 Report Posted August 7, 2012 Travels with my Aunt I'd say this is actually my favorite of all of Greene's books. At any rate, it is the only one that I have kept on my shelves. I'm planning in a couple of years to read Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and then pair it with the more overtly comic Travels with my Aunt. You know, that's a Steinbeck I've never read. I must give it a try. Quote
Pete C Posted August 7, 2012 Report Posted August 7, 2012 I love both the Greene and Steinbeck travels, but it's far from my favorite of either (closer with Steinbeck, as Cannery Row is the only of his novels I really love). Quote
jazzbo Posted August 10, 2012 Report Posted August 10, 2012 Savored this one slowly and just finished it. Amazing book. Caused much thinking on my part. Not sure what to start next. Second book in a row about Paul. Quote
Pete C Posted August 10, 2012 Report Posted August 10, 2012 (edited) It just screams "I am a serious, serious author I find that Garcia-Marquez screams that with every literary breath he takes. It's an attitude that turns me off to a number of very different authors, but who have this flaw in common: Thomas Mann, Margaret Atwood, Saul Bellow (maybe the most overrated American novelist?), Milan Kundera, and others. Nabokov has enough humor and verbal brilliance to counteract this tendency. Edited August 10, 2012 by Pete C Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.