Now reading...

[jlhoots]

James McBride: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

[BillF]

[GA Russell]

[jazzbo]

[Referentzhunter]

reading Dutch reissue ofcourse

[BillF]

[Rabshakeh]

2 hours ago, BillF said:

I read this in primary school and again three years ago. It's one of those books that just gets better.

[felser]

Just finished Matt Haig 'The Midnight Library', getting ready to start Richard Powers 'The Time of Our Singing' (anyone hear read it?  Greil Marcus raves about it, and his description drew me in).  Still re-reading Judith Herman 'Trauma and Recovery' in chunks.

[ejp626]

Almost halfway into Narayan's The Man-Eater of Malgudi.  Just not feeling it, though it is short, so I'll finish it.  The main character is a total wimp who lets other push him around all the time.  And the storyline isn't that appealing either.

Maybe a third of the way into Malraux's Man's Fate, which is more interesting for sure.  This is about the rise of the Communist Party in China, specifically Shanghai, mostly told from the point of view of the revolutionaries.  

This would be a good pairing with J.G. Farrell's The Singapore Grip, which is almost entirely told from the point of view of European ex-pats.  I liked but didn't love this novel, mostly because I thought the ending didn't live up to the rest of the book.

[sgcim]

I'm reading "Yellow Dog" by Martin Amis. I'm finding myself to be devolving like Xan Meo. Since I started the book, I find myself appreciating rap music more and more, and throwing away my jazz and classical collection. When will this stop?
 

[mjazzg]

14 hours ago, felser said:

Just finished Matt Haig 'The Midnight Library', getting ready to start Richard Powers 'The Time of Our Singing' (anyone hear read it?  Greil Marcus raves about it, and his description drew me in).  Still re-reading Judith Herman 'Trauma and Recovery' in chunks.

I read it when it was published and it left a very strong positive impact at the time.  That impact is a bit hazy 20 years on, now just a positive glow 

I finished Overstory before realising it was the same author

[Referentzhunter]

[BillF]

[ejp626]

Fontane's Effi Briest (with Madame Bovary to follow shortly thereafter)...

[BillF]

[ghost of miles]

[BillF]

4 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

👍

[GA Russell]

[felser]

[BillF]

[Rabshakeh]

Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

I'm not sure why I hadn't read this until now. With Pynchon I'm in the 'forget how much I enjoy it until I read it' camp. Perhaps the idea of a late career book as long as Gravity's Rainbow but written in mock 18th C prose about the mapping of America seemed like it would be tedious and silly. Anyway, it is really good. I can see why many people regard it as the best thing he's written.

Edit: It's not. The best thing he's written is that two or three page section of GR where Slothrop tries the old lady's chocolates.

[mjazzg]

3 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

I'm not sure why I hadn't read this until now. With Pynchon I'm in the 'forget how much I enjoy it until I read it' camp. Perhaps the idea of a late career book as long as Gravity's Rainbow but written in mock 18th C prose about the mapping of America seemed like it would be tedious and silly. Anyway, it is really good. I can see why many people regard it as the best thing he's written.

Edit: It's not. The best thing he's written is that two or three page section of GR where Slothrop tries the old lady's chocolates.

The only Pynchon I've read. Really enjoyed it

[JSngry]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:08 PM, felser said:

They call this a novel, but I'm not sure that it really is. Reads more like history with the names changed to protect against lawsuits.

[Rabshakeh]

3 hours ago, mjazzg said:

The only Pynchon I've read. Really enjoyed it

Same here. 

Gravity's Rainbow is also very good. Not an original point of view, but it is. Really it is very similar to Mason & Dixon, notwithstanding that it is not written in mock 18th century prose.

[medjuck]

5 hours ago, mjazzg said:

The only Pynchon I've read. Really enjoyed it

I think I've read and usually enjoyed everything by Pynchon  but it took me a long time to get through M&D because of the language. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by medjuck