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[jlhoots]

Wecker: The Golem & The Jinni

[Leeway]

JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN - Margaret Drabble (1967)

I'd never gotten around to Margaret Drabble's work, although it seems she has put together a significant literary career. I found this early novel rather peculiar. It's so much in the Jamesian mode, it almost feels contemporary with James. There are only the sketchiest references to contemporary life: a telephone is mentioned here, a television there, even Marlon Brando gets a quick mention, but the feel is oddly pre-modern. Pop culture doesn't exist in this novel. The narrative voice was also odd; it's hard to determine if it is earnestly serious, utterly droll, or deeply ironic. Likewise, is the young heroine of the novel, Clara, from the North of England, who yearns for an exciting and cultured life in London, an object of sympathy, or even admiration, or an object of satire? Hard to say. I wouldn't call it a feminist novel, but it does delve deeply into the female mind with almost brusque honesty, more so than I found in Iris Murdoch or Muriel Spark. I found it interesting that Clara walks into the office of a former flame and catches him reading Iris Murdoch.

"And he showed her the book on his desk, which was, no less, Iris Murdoch.... they would find him something better to do than to read iris Murdoch under the desk."

So maybe this is the anti-Murdochian novel, deeply existential to IM's Platonic haze.

[Jazzmoose]

Greenmantle by John Buchan. I kept thinking I ought to stop and read The 39 Steps first, but I just couldn't stop...

[ejp626]

I wrapped up Two Solitudes (on Canada Day no less!). It's certainly dated but there are some good aspects about the novel. I found myself caring quite a bit for the main character Athanase Tallard and his travails. In general, many of MacLennan's characters are just there to spout off on some social issue or another, and they are more mouthpieces than characters, but Athanase had a bit more depth. (This writing serious historical fiction kind of spoilt Barometer Rising for me as well. The best of the bunch is The Watch That Ends the Night, which I'll try to get to in a couple of years.)

Curiously, Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute also was published in 1945 (along with Two Solitudes). I've just started this and will probably wrap it up next week in Toronto.

[BillF]

After Brodie, this novella is probably the one I've enjoyed most so far. Spark seems to do well when dealing with young women.

[Leeway]

After Brodie, this novella is probably the one I've enjoyed most so far. Spark seems to do well when dealing with young women.

Yes, that is one of her finer works. I would agree about the young woman character being her forte, but followed closely by the quirky/troubled young man type. I'm reading her late Territorial Rights novel at the moment.

[Matthew]

Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers. A great, comic novel about a hustler of a priest, a retreat house, a golf course, every now and then God, and coming to terms with your life. This book is also, without a doubt, the most realistic novel about the Catholic priesthood that I've read. Powers' short stories are very interesting also.

Edited July 4, 2014 by Matthew

[ejp626]

Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers. A great, comic novel about a hustler of a priest, a retreat house, a golf course, every now and then God, and coming to terms with your life. This book is also, without a doubt, the most realistic novel about the Catholic priesthood that I've read. Powers' short stories are very interesting also.

Yes, I like this one. It has some quite profound moments in addition to the humor. I even turned my cousin on to it (he's moved to Wisconsin, which is close enough).

I bought a copy of the short stories, but haven't read them. Late in life, Powers published another novel (Wheat That Springeth Green) which is supposed to be pretty good. I have a copy of this as well, but haven't tackled it yet. (The cover of the NYRB edition is odd -- you are looking into a refrigerator.)

Given that all my books are going to be in transit for a while, after I finish The Tin Flute, I think probably I can get a library copy of Grass's The Tin Drum, which I've never read.

[Leeway]

Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers. A great, comic novel about a hustler of a priest, a retreat house, a golf course, every now and then God, and coming to terms with your life. This book is also, without a doubt, the most realistic novel about the Catholic priesthood that I've read. Powers' short stories are very interesting also.

Yes, I like this one. It has some quite profound moments in addition to the humor. I even turned my cousin on to it (he's moved to Wisconsin, which is close enough).

I bought a copy of the short stories, but haven't read them. Late in life, Powers published another novel (Wheat That Springeth Green) which is supposed to be pretty good. I have a copy of this as well, but haven't tackled it yet. (The cover of the NYRB edition is odd -- you are looking into a refrigerator.)

Given that all my books are going to be in transit for a while, after I finish The Tin Flute, I think probably I can get a library copy of Grass's The Tin Drum, which I've never read.

I hope you find The Tin Drum more engrossing than I did. I finally gave up on it about half-way through "with prejudice" as they say in legal circles; i.e., made me not want to read any more Gunter Grass. I was pretty surprised by that, considering its "classic status," but I just found it tedious, and, something in the tone or attitude of the book (can't recall exactly) really put me off.

[BillF]

Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers. A great, comic novel about a hustler of a priest, a retreat house, a golf course, every now and then God, and coming to terms with your life. This book is also, without a doubt, the most realistic novel about the Catholic priesthood that I've read. Powers' short stories are very interesting also.

Yes, I like this one. It has some quite profound moments in addition to the humor. I even turned my cousin on to it (he's moved to Wisconsin, which is close enough).

I bought a copy of the short stories, but haven't read them. Late in life, Powers published another novel (Wheat That Springeth Green) which is supposed to be pretty good. I have a copy of this as well, but haven't tackled it yet. (The cover of the NYRB edition is odd -- you are looking into a refrigerator.)

, but it didn't appeal to me as a 30 year old.

Given that all my books are going to be in transit for a while, after I finish The Tin Flute, I think probably I can get a library copy of Grass's The Tin Drum, which I've never read.

I hope you find The Tin Drum more engrossing than I did. I finally gave up on it about half-way through "with prejudice" as they say in legal circles; i.e., made me not want to read any more Gunter Grass. I was pretty surprised by that, considering its "classic status," but I just found it tedious, and, something in the tone or attitude of the book (can't recall exactly) really put me off.

It's about 45 years since I tried to read it - without success. It was something of a cult book with the 17-year-old art students whom I was teaching at the time, but it didn't appeal to me as a 30 year old.

[jlhoots]

Deaver: The Skin Collector

[duaneiac]

In which John Waters hitchhikes from his home in Baltimore to San Francisco. The book is divided into three sections: first, he imagines the best possible adventures this trip might bring; second, he imagines the worst possible adventures which might occur; third, he relates the trip as it actually happened. I'm in the first part now and it's quite entertaining as he imagines being picked up by (among others) a prison escapee being pursued by the police, a demolition derby driver who takes him along for the ride during a competition, an underground carnival in which he is put to work in the freak show as "The Man With No Tattoos", and in a very sweet chapter, he is picked up by Edith "Egg Lady" Massey, an iconic actress featured in several of Mr. Waters' films and who, in this account at least, faked her own death to escape the film world and now runs a second hand convenience store in Hermann, Missouri.

[Shawn]

Larry Niven - Protector (1973)

[BillF]

Not very happy with this Spark novella, but then it seems others weren't either:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/may/13/lost-booker-muriel-spark-drivers-seat

[Leeway]

That is a new one to me. I can see why it wouldn't make a lot of friends. Her later novels seems to lose some of that joyous, or at least buoyant, quality that helped balance the acerbity.

BTW, the Washington Post is promising something (not sure if review, article, or maybe forthcoming bio) on Spark this Thursday. Will post on that when I see it.

[BillF]

That is a new one to me. I can see why it wouldn't make a lot of friends. Her later novels seems to lose some of that joyous, or at least buoyant, quality that helped balance the acerbity.

BTW, the Washington Post is promising something (not sure if review, article, or maybe forthcoming bio) on Spark this Thursday. Will post on that when I see it.

Could be this one that appeared in the Guardian yesterday. These things are often syndicated internationally.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/05/i-lived-with-muriel-spark

[Leeway]

Yes, that seems the likely reason for the article, although the Washington Post might gets its own reviewer (I would guess Michael Dirda, but let's see). Will advise.

I found the article on Penelope Jardine quite interesting. I can see why the character of the quirky, difficult young man is a recurrent one in Spark. I was also thinking how the move to Italy affected Spark and her work, although I don't have that aspect precisely figured out. I don't think it was a positive move though.

[BillF]

Yes, that seems the likely reason for the article, although the Washington Post might gets its own reviewer (I would guess Michael Dirda, but let's see). Will advise.

I found the article on Penelope Jardine quite interesting. I can see why the character of the quirky, difficult young man is a recurrent one in Spark. I was also thinking how the move to Italy affected Spark and her work, although I don't have that aspect precisely figured out. I don't think it was a positive move though.

The article has whetted my appetite for this, which I began today. I'll probably break off from time to time to read other Spark novels.

[Leeway]

Yes, that seems the likely reason for the article, although the Washington Post might gets its own reviewer (I would guess Michael Dirda, but let's see). Will advise.

I found the article on Penelope Jardine quite interesting. I can see why the character of the quirky, difficult young man is a recurrent one in Spark. I was also thinking how the move to Italy affected Spark and her work, although I don't have that aspect precisely figured out. I don't think it was a positive move though.

The article has whetted my appetite for this, which I began today. I'll probably break off from time to time to read other Spark novels.

Yes, I noted the Stannard; now on my list. My recent used book hunt, which turned up "Territorial Rights," also turned up:

I need to dip into it a bit. Also, don't forget "The Comforters"-- that first book is quite revealing and often the template for what follows.

[Matthew]

Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & The Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream by David McGowan. Very definitely a What The Heck??? book, but interesting none-the-less. Trying to make the case that whole Laurel Canyon/Los Angeles/Hippie thing was a CIA diversion to take away any real power from the anti-war movement, among other things.

[BillF]

Yes, that seems the likely reason for the article, although the Washington Post might gets its own reviewer (I would guess Michael Dirda, but let's see). Will advise.

I found the article on Penelope Jardine quite interesting. I can see why the character of the quirky, difficult young man is a recurrent one in Spark. I was also thinking how the move to Italy affected Spark and her work, although I don't have that aspect precisely figured out. I don't think it was a positive move though.

The article has whetted my appetite for this, which I began today. I'll probably break off from time to time to read other Spark novels.

Yes, I noted the Stannard; now on my list. My recent used book hunt, which turned up "Territorial Rights," also turned up:

I need to dip into it a bit. Also, don't forget "The Comforters"-- that first book is quite revealing and often the template for what follows.

I can see me reading The Comforters when I reach that stage in the biography. There's a library copy waiting for me.

[ghost of miles]

Gary Marmorstein's Lorenz Hart bio.

[Leeway]

TERRITORIAL RIGHTS - Muriel Spark (1979). That is the American First Edition cover. As indicated, the novel is set in Venice. An ingenious and nasty young man is at the heart of it (of course), surrounded by a cast of characters with a corrupt or shady past, much of it the product of their activities during WWII. The young man's parents are either oblivious or stupid or both. Let's just say the milieu is seedy even when (or because ?) the characters have money (except for a few down-at-the heels refugee types).

The story winds itself up into a mystery/detective type plot (not one that would give Agatha Christie any sleepless nights) and unwinds itself at the end like spaghetti on a fork. If Spark likes Italy, she keeps it carefully concealed here. For the most part, the Venetians are a bunch of people rowing gondolas and generally making themselves unpleasant, or just the decorative background for the expats busy exploiting each other. Spark's wit, rapier-dialog and amusing sense of sophistication are all here, which makes it rather a breezy read. The morality though is as toxic as one of those Venetian canals.

[BillF]

TERRITORIAL RIGHTS - Muriel Spark (1979). That is the American First Edition cover. As indicated, the novel is set in Venice. An ingenious and nasty young man is at the heart of it (of course), surrounded by a cast of characters with a corrupt or shady past, much of it the product of their activities during WWII. The young man's parents are either oblivious or stupid or both. Let's just say the milieu is seedy even when (or because ?) the characters have money (except for a few down-at-the heels refugee types).

The story winds itself up into a mystery/detective type plot (not one that would give Agatha Christie any sleepless nights) and unwinds itself at the end like spaghetti on a fork. If Spark likes Italy, she keeps it carefully concealed here. For the most part, the Venetians are a bunch of people rowing gondolas and generally making themselves unpleasant, or just the decorative background for the expats busy exploiting each other. Spark's wit, rapier-dialog and amusing sense of sophistication are all here, which makes it rather a breezy read. The morality though is as toxic as one of those Venetian canals.

It's on my list :-)

[paul secor]

Just finished reading: