Brad Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 On 2/4/2018 at 2:44 PM, SMB1968 said: Sounds interesting. I’ve picked up Mary Beard’s SPQR but haven’t tackled it yet. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 10, 2018 Report Posted February 10, 2018 I just finished Nina Berberova's The Tattered Cloak and Other Novels. These tales are mostly about Russian emigres living in Paris in the 1930s and 40s. There some interesting bits about living through war-time Paris, which I believe Berberova actually did. I'll be tackling White Walls (NYRB) by Tatyana Tolstaya soon. This includes all the stories from Sleepwalker in a Fog and On the Golden Porch. Currently, I am reading Takashi Hiraide's The Guest Cat (New Directions). It's a very short meditation on letting a cat into one's life. Tonight or tomorrow I should launch into Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale. In a way I am glad to finally have gotten to this one off my reading list. This was a book I was assigned literally decades ago in undergrad, and I had too many reading courses that semester, so I just skipped it (and sort of bulled my way through the discussion of the book that week). So it is a way of getting around to some unfinished business. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 14, 2018 Report Posted February 14, 2018 On 2/10/2018 at 8:30 PM, ejp626 said: Tonight or tomorrow I should launch into Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale. This is quite good. He's funnier than I expected, almost as sly as Austen at times. And is it possible that this is the first novel (1908) that really delved into the pain of childbirth, lifting the veil so to speak on what was definitely unmentionable in Victorian-era novels? I'm not sure this is the case, but I can't think of any other cases. (I can think of a very small handful that discussed abortions and abortificants but even most of these were from the 1930s or later.) Anyway, is this enough to inspire me to read his other novels? Not really, but I do rate this fairly highly. Quote
optatio Posted February 14, 2018 Report Posted February 14, 2018 Marion Brown: Afternoon of a Georgia Faun. Views & Reviews. 1973, NIA Music Quote
SMB1968 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Posted February 22, 2018 On 2/8/2018 at 8:49 PM, Brad said: Sounds interesting. I’ve picked up Mary Beard’s SPQR but haven’t tackled it yet. It was pretty good, but a bit heavy on speculation to move the narrative along. Unavoidable at times given the time frame, but still felt a bit excessive. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 24, 2018 Report Posted February 24, 2018 Wrapped up Old Wives' Tale. Overall a very solid novel. Sorry I didn't read it way back when. I just finished Rabindranath Maharaj's The Amazing Absorbing Boy, which was good. It's a novel about a young immigrant coming to Toronto from Jamaica. Maybe even a bit better than I expected, given his earlier novel Homer in Flight. I'm partway through Dionne Brand's What We All Long For. It's a good start, but I suspect the plot-twists are going to be too implausible for my taste. I don't do it often, but I am bailing on Bruno Latour's We Have Never Been Modern. It's very much in the vein of Michel Foucault but considerably less interesting or enjoyable. Quote
paul secor Posted February 25, 2018 Report Posted February 25, 2018 Bernard MacLaverty: Midwinter Break Quote
ejp626 Posted March 2, 2018 Report Posted March 2, 2018 It's always a little disorienting to me to start reading a book, then suddenly (or gradually) realize that I have already read it. This just happened to me with Mahfouz's The Mirage. In this case, I suspect it is because I so strongly dislike the narrator (an immature, spoiled man-boy) that I suppressed the novel immediately after reading it. Since I have it checked out from the library, I think I'll skim along to get to the tragic events foreshadowed on the first page or so of the novel, then return it. It's not worth rereading the whole book. After this, Muriel Spark's Memento Mori, then Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles. Quote
paul secor Posted March 2, 2018 Report Posted March 2, 2018 8 hours ago, ejp626 said: It's always a little disorienting to me to start reading a book, then suddenly (or gradually) realize that I have already read it. This just happened to me with Mahfouz's The Mirage. In this case, I suspect it is because I so strongly dislike the narrator (an immature, spoiled man-boy) that I suppressed the novel immediately after reading it. Since I have it checked out from the library, I think I'll skim along to get to the tragic events foreshadowed on the first page or so of the novel, then return it. It's not worth rereading the whole book. After this, Muriel Spark's Memento Mori, then Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles. Momento Mori is a memorable macabre comedy. Quote
Brad Posted March 4, 2018 Report Posted March 4, 2018 On 2/22/2018 at 8:03 PM, SMB1968 said: It was pretty good, but a bit heavy on speculation to move the narrative along. Unavoidable at times given the time frame, but still felt a bit excessive. Haven't tackled it yet but thanks for the heads up. About halfway through this. Quote
jlhoots Posted March 8, 2018 Report Posted March 8, 2018 Denis Johnson: The Largesse Of The Sea Maiden Quote
paul secor Posted March 8, 2018 Report Posted March 8, 2018 William Melvin Kelley: A Different Drummer Quote
Joe Posted March 9, 2018 Report Posted March 9, 2018 17 hours ago, paul secor said: William Melvin Kelley: A Different Drummer A marvelous book. Quote
paul secor Posted March 9, 2018 Report Posted March 9, 2018 6 hours ago, Joe said: A marvelous book. It is and, unfortunately, I believe that it's the only one of his books in print right now. Quote
Joe Posted March 10, 2018 Report Posted March 10, 2018 17 hours ago, paul secor said: It is and, unfortunately, I believe that it's the only one of his books in print right now. I think DEM might still be available via Coffee House... https://coffeehousepress.org/products/dem Quote
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