Now reading...

[Chuck Nessa]

I am still relegated to reading ingredients on cans. I hope things improve.

[Van Basten II]

Started reading Histoire de ma Vie from Casanova , bought the newest edition which is according to experts a way better retranscription than the previous ones.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Van Basten II

[Jazzmoose]

I am still relegated to reading ingredients on cans. I hope things improve.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and mom said no more books at the breakfast table. I had the Cap'n Crunch box memorized within a week...

[BillF]

Had to come up with a winner after the last two, so I finally pulled The Handmaid's Tale of the shelf, not knowing if it was a guaranteed winner or just overrated. I'm about halfway through, and the chances of it being overrated have disappeared.

When you've finished, give Oryx and Crake a try.

I am still relegated to reading ingredients on cans. I hope things improve.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and mom said no more books at the breakfast table. I had the Cap'n Crunch box memorized within a week...

That's where I learned French - off the HP bottle: "Cette sauce de haute qualité ... " :-)

[A Lark Ascending]

Had to come up with a winner after the last two, so I finally pulled The Handmaid's Tale of the shelf, not knowing if it was a guaranteed winner or just overrated. I'm about halfway through, and the chances of it being overrated have disappeared.

Excellent book. I read it after hearing students moan about having to read it it in their A Level English classes (students always moan about their set texts - I certainly did at that age!).

Just started:

A city by city survey of the world the year before. Very interesting - tries to see the year in its time as opposed to viewing it as just a prequel to what came next (touching on the whole issue of historical inevitability).

I can see I'm going to get completely sucked into the publishing frenzy of the next few years.

Edited May 28, 2014 by A Lark Ascending

[Van Basten II]

Haruki Murakami - The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (unabridged Dutch edition)

Probably my favourite Murakami

[jazzbo]

[BillF]

Read this after recently watching the French film of the book, L'ennui. A bit of a let-down after months of reading the superb mid-20th century prose of Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Bowen, etc to move to the less-than-distinguished English of a translator!

Edited May 29, 2014 by BillF

[erwbol]

Haruki Murakami - The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (unabridged Dutch edition)

Probably my favourite Murakami

Mine as well. I've read it a couple of times. On the other hand, it's the only Murakami I've managed to finish. I've attempted to read three other books of his. I'm more of a non-fiction reader.

[Leeway]

Just finishing the Churchill bio I started a few weeks back and then got sidetracked from.

Also this:

... Very impressive.

And the Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval no less...

I am within striking distance of wrapping up Proust (300 more pages). It has been a dreary slog that I should have pulled the plug on months ago. But I was determined to finish it.

Next up in rough order: Molly Keane's Laughter without Tears, Martin Amis's Other People, Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, Hugh MacLennan's Two Solitudes.

Wanted to followup on the Proust. Have you made your way through all 7 volumes? Or "only" Volume 1, "Swann's Way"? I still have a self-commitment to read Proust (have only gotten to "Swann's Way") but haven't buckled down to it. It may be one of those works that defeats my attempts. Sounds like it wasn't much fun for you. Maybe you could give us a better idea of the difficulties in reading Proust, or at least what to avoid. Bravo for getting through.

PS: I think you'll like the Murdoch.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Leeway

[ejp626]

I am within striking distance of wrapping up Proust (300 more pages). It has been a dreary slog that I should have pulled the plug on months ago. But I was determined to finish it.

Next up in rough order: Molly Keane's Laughter without Tears, Martin Amis's Other People, Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, Hugh MacLennan's Two Solitudes.

Wanted to followup on the Proust. Have you made your way through all 7 volumes? Or "only" Volume 1, "Swann's Way"? I still have a self-commitment to read Proust (have only gotten to "Swann's Way") but haven't buckled down to it. It may be one of those works that defeats my attempts. Sounds like it wasn't much fun for you. Maybe you could give us a better idea of the difficulties in reading Proust, or at least what to avoid. Bravo for getting through.

PS: I think you'll like the Murdoch.

Yes, this will be all 7 volumes. Had I stopped with Swann's Way, I don't think I would have bothered posting on it. Not to belabor this too much, but I have been blogging about Proust, and here are a few representative posts: http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-disappointments.html and http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-contradictions.html

You can actually do a keyword search to find out everything that I have said about the man and the work. (Perhaps of more interest is a challenge where I am giving away a copy of Robert Kroetsch's The Studhorse Man. -- http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-studhorse-man-challenge-closes-june.html )

I think if this had been boiled down to its essence -- 400 to 500 pages on memory, the shifting sands of people's status in social circles and some thoughts on "art" it would have been brilliant. I find it totally overstays its welcome at 3000+ pages.

But mostly I find the length completely wasted on a group of parasites who are quite loathsome -- it seems almost 1/3 of the book is the Narrator frittering away his time at parties where one person is snubbing another. I found them all interchangeable and thus couldn't tell you much of anything about these party scenes. (While I tend to feel the same way about the nobles in Tolstoy -- a useless parasitical class -- they still tended to be better drawn portraits.)

And the Narrator goes from spoiled brat to a fairly monstrous young adult who keeps his mistress virtually locked up for an entire volume (The Captive). And why does he do this -- because he has decided to save her from herself and not let her indulge in her bisexual tendencies. That's right -- close to a third of Proust is completely driven by discussions about homosexuality (which he almost always called inversion) and how terrible it is, particularly in men (and how widespread in high society). There is just so much self-loathing going on here (Proust was gay). I have come to think about this as the epic literary monument to "the closet." So if a lot of high-minded self-loathing bothers you, you probably are not going to like Proust and you should skip the last 3 volumes.

Had I known going in what this would have been like, I would never have started it, but it was a book that I thought (as a former English lit. major) I really ought to read... It is one I will never return to.

Edited May 30, 2014 by ejp626

[Leeway]

I am within striking distance of wrapping up Proust (300 more pages). It has been a dreary slog that I should have pulled the plug on months ago. But I was determined to finish it.

Next up in rough order: Molly Keane's Laughter without Tears, Martin Amis's Other People, Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, Hugh MacLennan's Two Solitudes.

Wanted to followup on the Proust. Have you made your way through all 7 volumes? Or "only" Volume 1, "Swann's Way"? I still have a self-commitment to read Proust (have only gotten to "Swann's Way") but haven't buckled down to it. It may be one of those works that defeats my attempts. Sounds like it wasn't much fun for you. Maybe you could give us a better idea of the difficulties in reading Proust, or at least what to avoid. Bravo for getting through.

PS: I think you'll like the Murdoch.

Yes, this will be all 7 volumes. Had I stopped with Swann's Way, I don't think I would have bothered posting on it. Not to belabor this too much, but I have been blogging about Proust, and here are a few representative posts: http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-disappointments.html and http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-contradictions.html

You can actually do a keyword search to find out everything that I have said about the man and the work. (Perhaps of more interest is a challenge where I am giving away a copy of Robert Kroetsch's The Studhorse Man. -- http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-studhorse-man-challenge-closes-june.html )

I think if this had been boiled down to its essence -- 400 to 500 pages on memory, the shifting sands of people's status in social circles and some thoughts on "art" it would have been brilliant. I find it totally overstays its welcome at 3000+ pages.

But mostly I find the length completely wasted on a group of parasites who are quite loathsome -- it seems almost 1/3 of the book is the Narrator frittering away his time at parties where one person is snubbing another. I found them all interchangeable and thus couldn't tell you much of anything about these party scenes. (While I tend to feel the same way about the nobles in Tolstoy -- a useless parasitical class -- they still tended to be better drawn portraits.)

And the Narrator goes from spoiled brat to a fairly monstrous young adult who keeps his mistress virtually locked up for an entire volume (The Captive). And why does he do this -- because he has decided to save her from herself and not let her indulge in her bisexual tendencies. That's right -- close to a third of Proust is completely driven by discussions about homosexuality (which he almost always called inversion) and how terrible it is, particularly in men (and how widespread in high society). There is just so much self-loathing going on here (Proust was gay). I have come to think about this as the epic literary monument to "the closet." So if a lot of high-minded self-loathing bothers you, you probably are not going to like Proust and you should skip the last 3 volumes.

Had I known going in what this would have been like, I would never have started it, but it was a book that I thought (as a former English lit. major) I really ought to read... It is one I will never return to.

Thank you for making clear the problems you find in Proust. I did go to the links you provided and read your blog posts too. Forewarned is forearmed as they say, but if I decide to go forward, I'll know there are a bunch of red flags to consider. And if I don't go forward, I won't feel so bad about it .

[BillF]

I am within striking distance of wrapping up Proust (300 more pages). It has been a dreary slog that I should have pulled the plug on months ago. But I was determined to finish it.

Next up in rough order: Molly Keane's Laughter without Tears, Martin Amis's Other People, Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, Hugh MacLennan's Two Solitudes.

Wanted to followup on the Proust. Have you made your way through all 7 volumes? Or "only" Volume 1, "Swann's Way"? I still have a self-commitment to read Proust (have only gotten to "Swann's Way") but haven't buckled down to it. It may be one of those works that defeats my attempts. Sounds like it wasn't much fun for you. Maybe you could give us a better idea of the difficulties in reading Proust, or at least what to avoid. Bravo for getting through.

PS: I think you'll like the Murdoch.

Yes, this will be all 7 volumes. Had I stopped with Swann's Way, I don't think I would have bothered posting on it. Not to belabor this too much, but I have been blogging about Proust, and here are a few representative posts: http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-disappointments.html and http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-contradictions.html

You can actually do a keyword search to find out everything that I have said about the man and the work. (Perhaps of more interest is a challenge where I am giving away a copy of Robert Kroetsch's The Studhorse Man. -- http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-studhorse-man-challenge-closes-june.html )

I think if this had been boiled down to its essence -- 400 to 500 pages on memory, the shifting sands of people's status in social circles and some thoughts on "art" it would have been brilliant. I find it totally overstays its welcome at 3000+ pages.

But mostly I find the length completely wasted on a group of parasites who are quite loathsome -- it seems almost 1/3 of the book is the Narrator frittering away his time at parties where one person is snubbing another. I found them all interchangeable and thus couldn't tell you much of anything about these party scenes. (While I tend to feel the same way about the nobles in Tolstoy -- a useless parasitical class -- they still tended to be better drawn portraits.)

And the Narrator goes from spoiled brat to a fairly monstrous young adult who keeps his mistress virtually locked up for an entire volume (The Captive). And why does he do this -- because he has decided to save her from herself and not let her indulge in her bisexual tendencies. That's right -- close to a third of Proust is completely driven by discussions about homosexuality (which he almost always called inversion) and how terrible it is, particularly in men (and how widespread in high society). There is just so much self-loathing going on here (Proust was gay). I have come to think about this as the epic literary monument to "the closet." So if a lot of high-minded self-loathing bothers you, you probably are not going to like Proust and you should skip the last 3 volumes.

Had I known going in what this would have been like, I would never have started it, but it was a book that I thought (as a former English lit. major) I really ought to read... It is one I will never return to.

Thank you for making clear the problems you find in Proust. I did go to the links you provided and read your blog posts too. Forewarned is forearmed as they say, but if I decide to go forward, I'll know there are a bunch of red flags to consider. And if I don't go forward, I won't feel so bad about it .

I confess to never having read Proust - I've got a thing about translations and my French isn't up to it - but I did watch a film last week based on La prisonnière which you mention:

[Leeway]

I am within striking distance of wrapping up Proust (300 more pages). It has been a dreary slog that I should have pulled the plug on months ago. But I was determined to finish it.

Next up in rough order: Molly Keane's Laughter without Tears, Martin Amis's Other People, Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, Hugh MacLennan's Two Solitudes.

Wanted to followup on the Proust. Have you made your way through all 7 volumes? Or "only" Volume 1, "Swann's Way"? I still have a self-commitment to read Proust (have only gotten to "Swann's Way") but haven't buckled down to it. It may be one of those works that defeats my attempts. Sounds like it wasn't much fun for you. Maybe you could give us a better idea of the difficulties in reading Proust, or at least what to avoid. Bravo for getting through.

PS: I think you'll like the Murdoch.

Yes, this will be all 7 volumes. Had I stopped with Swann's Way, I don't think I would have bothered posting on it. Not to belabor this too much, but I have been blogging about Proust, and here are a few representative posts: http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-disappointments.html and http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/04/proustian-contradictions.html

You can actually do a keyword search to find out everything that I have said about the man and the work. (Perhaps of more interest is a challenge where I am giving away a copy of Robert Kroetsch's The Studhorse Man. -- http://erics-hangout.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-studhorse-man-challenge-closes-june.html )

I think if this had been boiled down to its essence -- 400 to 500 pages on memory, the shifting sands of people's status in social circles and some thoughts on "art" it would have been brilliant. I find it totally overstays its welcome at 3000+ pages.

But mostly I find the length completely wasted on a group of parasites who are quite loathsome -- it seems almost 1/3 of the book is the Narrator frittering away his time at parties where one person is snubbing another. I found them all interchangeable and thus couldn't tell you much of anything about these party scenes. (While I tend to feel the same way about the nobles in Tolstoy -- a useless parasitical class -- they still tended to be better drawn portraits.)

And the Narrator goes from spoiled brat to a fairly monstrous young adult who keeps his mistress virtually locked up for an entire volume (The Captive). And why does he do this -- because he has decided to save her from herself and not let her indulge in her bisexual tendencies. That's right -- close to a third of Proust is completely driven by discussions about homosexuality (which he almost always called inversion) and how terrible it is, particularly in men (and how widespread in high society). There is just so much self-loathing going on here (Proust was gay). I have come to think about this as the epic literary monument to "the closet." So if a lot of high-minded self-loathing bothers you, you probably are not going to like Proust and you should skip the last 3 volumes.

Had I known going in what this would have been like, I would never have started it, but it was a book that I thought (as a former English lit. major) I really ought to read... It is one I will never return to.

Thank you for making clear the problems you find in Proust. I did go to the links you provided and read your blog posts too. Forewarned is forearmed as they say, but if I decide to go forward, I'll know there are a bunch of red flags to consider. And if I don't go forward, I won't feel so bad about it .

I confess to never having read Proust - I've got a thing about translations and my French isn't up to it - but I did watch a film last week based on La prisonnière which you mention:

I like the cover for sure. I note that it is a Chantal Akerman film. Just watched her Les Rendez-Vous d'Anna and was quite impressed.

[ejp626]

I suspect this is a case where the film version is an acceptable substitute for the book, though some people struggled with Time Regained, a 1999 film directed by Raoul Ruiz. John Malkovitch was cast as Baron de Palmus, in what strikes me as a bit of ludicrous miscasting.

I can understand some people really going for Proust, but most people will not, and I really do find the people who praise him (by no means everyone in the literary establishment but a large number) to go far over the top.

[Jazzmoose]

When you've finished, give Oryx and Crake a try.

It'll be in my next Amazon order. She has certainly earned more space on the shelves!

Edited June 1, 2014 by Jazzmoose

[niels]

Finaly decided to read something from one of our (the Netherlands) most famous writers:

Louis Couperus - De stille kracht (The hidden force)

Beautiful book!! I don't know how well know Louis Couperus is outside of the Netherlands, but this is really well worth the read if you like classic literature.

Now starting with:

Didn't really know the writer, but I read it is one of the favorite contemporary writers of Orhan Pamuk (which is my favorite contemporary writer). So a nice reason to explore some of his work.

[BillF]

Enough of Proust. Next up - a box set of Mr Men books. You gotta know your level!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/02/box-set-mr-men-stories

[jlhoots]

Annie Proulx: Close Range (Wyoming Stories)

[duaneiac]

The Small Bachelor -- P.G. Wodehouse

[Leeway]

SEVEN GOTHIC TALES - Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). 1934.

I've been toiling at this book for a while now, and just finished it. I enjoyed it but had to work at it too. I've had the book lying around for ages and always felt I ought to read it. The book is enormously witty, quite funny in a sly, satirical way, and sharp and often subversive on the relations between men and women. But the title is rather misleading, for each of the seven tales contains many interior tales, so that often one finds oneself traveling deeper into the labyrinth. I've enjoyed those many interior tales , but it makes for dense reading, with what seem like endless digressions (in fact, they are not) and a growing host of characters. It might have been better to read a tale then come back to the others after reading something else. But I'm glad I have read it now and have developed an admiration for Dinesen's narrative craft.

[ejp626]

I have to admit I've had a couple of Dinesen's Tales books practically forever, and I keep meaning to read them... Given that I am reading other short story collections periodically, I can perhaps read one at a time (as you suggest) and mix them up with the rest of my reading.

Anyway, I finished Molly Keane's Loving Without Tears and didn't care much for it, for all kinds of reasons. I somehow came across Michal Ajvaz's The Other City and The Golden Age (probably recommended by Amazon) and deeply disliked them. There are no internal rules in The Other City. Literally anything can happen (even more surreal than Alice in Wonderland but without the underlying logic that Carroll developed) and thus there is no real interest on my part.

But I am enjoying Under the Net so far. The main character's voice reminds me just a bit of Donleavy's The Ginger Man, but without being such a complete shitheel. (I'm pretty sure a year or so back I said that I gave up on The Ginger Man after some appalling scenes of the main character berating and even beating his wife.) I've also enjoyed the opening sections of Martin Amis' Other People so far.

On the topic of literary Amises, I seem to recall there was a two-fer published pairing Lucky Jim with something else. (My Google-fu was on the blink, but I seem to have found it -- Lucky Jim and The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis.) Has anyone seen this? It's no longer in print, but there seem to be at least a few copies floating about.

[erwbol]

Mikhail Bulgakov - A Dog's Heart (Penguin Classics)

[Leeway]

I have to admit I've had a couple of Dinesen's Tales books practically forever, and I keep meaning to read them... Given that I am reading other short story collections periodically, I can perhaps read one at a time (as you suggest) and mix them up with the rest of my reading.

Anyway, I finished Molly Keane's Loving Without Tears and didn't care much for it, for all kinds of reasons. I somehow came across Michal Ajvaz's The Other City and The Golden Age (probably recommended by Amazon) and deeply disliked them. There are no internal rules in The Other City. Literally anything can happen (even more surreal than Alice in Wonderland but without the underlying logic that Carroll developed) and thus there is no real interest on my part.

But I am enjoying Under the Net so far. The main character's voice reminds me just a bit of Donleavy's The Ginger Man, but without being such a complete shitheel. (I'm pretty sure a year or so back I said that I gave up on The Ginger Man after some appalling scenes of the main character berating and even beating his wife.) I've also enjoyed the opening sections of Martin Amis' Other People so far.

On the topic of literary Amises, I seem to recall there was a two-fer published pairing Lucky Jim with something else. (My Google-fu was on the blink, but I seem to have found it -- Lucky Jim and The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis.) Has anyone seen this? It's no longer in print, but there seem to be at least a few copies floating about.

The Dinesen tales go beyond short story, they almost reach the novella. The first one in the book, "The Deluge at Norderney," is the long and most challenging I think, or maybe just its position as first tale forces the reader to acclimate to the word of the tales. It might be worth starting with the last, "The Poet". There is some interconnectedness but it is not crucial or requiring a particular order. My surprise was at just how sharp the wit is that Dinesen deploys. It bristles on every page. A lot of it is "drive-by" humor, a glancing shot. She is having some wicked fun with it all, while more or less keeping a straight face. There is a serious quality, one might even say a spiritual quality to it all but it is hardly conventional. Indeed, upending the conventional is her "MO."

I like the pairing of Martin and Kingsley, probably done for reasons of profit and to give both books' sales a nudge, but it makes good literary sense too.

[ejp626]

I have to admit I've had a couple of Dinesen's Tales books practically forever, and I keep meaning to read them... Given that I am reading other short story collections periodically, I can perhaps read one at a time (as you suggest) and mix them up with the rest of my reading.

Anyway, I finished Molly Keane's Loving Without Tears and didn't care much for it, for all kinds of reasons. I somehow came across Michal Ajvaz's The Other City and The Golden Age (probably recommended by Amazon) and deeply disliked them. There are no internal rules in The Other City. Literally anything can happen (even more surreal than Alice in Wonderland but without the underlying logic that Carroll developed) and thus there is no real interest on my part.

But I am enjoying Under the Net so far. The main character's voice reminds me just a bit of Donleavy's The Ginger Man, but without being such a complete shitheel. (I'm pretty sure a year or so back I said that I gave up on The Ginger Man after some appalling scenes of the main character berating and even beating his wife.) I've also enjoyed the opening sections of Martin Amis' Other People so far.

On the topic of literary Amises, I seem to recall there was a two-fer published pairing Lucky Jim with something else. (My Google-fu was on the blink, but I seem to have found it -- Lucky Jim and The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis.) Has anyone seen this? It's no longer in print, but there seem to be at least a few copies floating about.

The Dinesen tales go beyond short story, they almost reach the novella. The first one in the book, "The Deluge at Norderney," is the long and most challenging I think, or maybe just its position as first tale forces the reader to acclimate to the word of the tales. It might be worth starting with the last, "The Poet". There is some interconnectedness but it is not crucial or requiring a particular order. ...

I like the pairing of Martin and Kingsley, probably done for reasons of profit and to give both books' sales a nudge, but it makes good literary sense too.

I'll keep that in mind and perhaps go back to front...

Anyway, I suspect a more apt pairing would have been Lucky Jim and Malcolm Bradbury's The History Man, but yes, I'm sure this had more commercial possibilities (not that this kept it in print...).