Now reading...

[T.D.]

Based on a recent review (forget the source), I'm going to get the new Everyman edition of complete novels by Flann O'Brien. Expected release 8 Jan.

[jlhoots]

Michael McGarrity: Death Song

[ejp626]

Based on a recent review (forget the source), I'm going to get the new Everyman edition of complete novels by Flann O'Brien. Expected release 8 Jan.

Hmm. At one point I had At Swim-Two-Birds, but I seem to have misplaced it. I don't think I finished it. Or at least it certainly didn't grab me. But I really liked The Third Policeman, so this might be a good time to look into his work again, particularly the harder to find novels.

[ejp626]

I have just finished Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. She is the author of The Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories, which was quite good. I think this novel is a quantum leap above that. I was really moved by several sections, including a description of a train wreck in India and it's aftermath. It is mostly about first and second generation Indian immigrants in the US, as they struggle to come to terms with their new country. (I held off on renting the movie The Namesake, but I have it in my Netflix queue now.)

Then I read and reviewed Noxious New York -- a book about environmental justice campaigns in New York City.

I have a number of interesting novels I'm trying to work on next. I'll probably alternate through Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, and Jesse Ball's Samedi the Deafness.

[T.D.]

Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.

I'd heard chatter of this portrayal of the CIA's history of monstrous ineptitude. Had read Robert Littell's novel The Company, which gave a pretty damning chronicle of abject failure. (Littell's an excellent spy novelist.)

Then Legacy of Ashes showed up on The Economist's books of the year list, so I had to check it out.

Excellent, but mind-blowing and very strong stuff. The CIA's history is worse than you could even imagine. It's difficult to comprehend.

[Van Basten II]

After a huge essay on Joyce more than one thousand pages went for something lighter in every sense of the word.

[AndrewHill]

Nietzsche-Birth of Tragedy/Case of Wagner-Vintage

[jlhoots]

John Wideman: God's Gym

Wanda Coleman: Jazz & 12 O'clock Tales

[ejp626]

Wanda Coleman: Jazz & 12 O'clock Tales

The Village Voice just raved about this, and I was considering checking it out. Let us know if it lives up to the hype.

I'm just about done with Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I got this recently and finished it the other day

It's a bit old, for a current history book that aims to point a way forward - 1992.

Basil Davidson is about my favourite historian - a specialist in Africa. He's a bit on the romantic side, I think, and sometimes gets carried away when he himself is at the cutting edge of events. But he writes very well and it's a joy to see him thinking.

This book is very nearly persuasive. And it's certainly true that it's been shown subsequently, for example, in Somalia, that even when a state disintegrates completely, political, social and economic development is possible. But, in the end, it seems to me that the modern nation state is a thing that looks very much like most of the many pre-colonial African empires, but with newer physical, political and social technology. So, while Davidson's analysis of the problem and its precise cause seems spot on, I'm not wholly convinced about how useful this is in developing solutions, though I agree that institutionalising distrust of government, as was usual in pre-colonial days, seems to be an important element of any solution. And God knows, there's plenty of uninstitutionalised distrust of government in Africa.

MG

[porcy62]

MG,

if you're interested about Africa's history, the best one over here is Angelo Del Boca. It might worth a search on Amazon. The trustful source for italian's damages in Africa.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

MG,

if you're interested about Africa's history, the best one over here is Angelo Del Boca. It might worth a search on Amazon. The trustful source for italian's damages in Africa.

In English?

MG

[seeline]

I finished this last week - the setting is pretty amazing (surreal yet very real), although I did get a bit frustrated with the ending...

Has anyone else read it? I really don't want to say more, as there are too many potential spoilers involved.

[porcy62]

MG,

if you're interested about Africa's history, the best one over here is Angelo Del Boca. It might worth a search on Amazon. The trustful source for italian's damages in Africa.

In English?

MG

I am sure his monumental history of Ethiopia's conquering was translated. Not sure about his other works. Maybe you can check at National Library, something, translated, might be OOP. All his work worths a reading.

[jazzbo]

I just finished this. Scarier than Steven King.

Recommended if you're masochistic or really want to know what's what.

Next I think I'll read that "Pagan Christ" by Happur.

[T.D.]

Have been reading Alan Greenspan's autobiography. It's not great, but something I just had to read.

Found the very interesting Annapurna: 50 Years of Expeditions in the Death Zone, by Reinhold Messner, at the library. The photos are incredible! If you liked Krakauer's Into Thin Air, you should check this out...

[jlhoots]

Wanda Coleman: Jazz & 12 O'clock Tales

The Village Voice just raved about this, and I was considering checking it out. Let us know if it lives up to the hype.

I'm just about done with Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Wanda Coleman's book of short stories is definitely worthwhile.

Complex, moving writing.

[jlhoots]

I finished this last week - the setting is pretty amazing (surreal yet very real), although I did get a bit frustrated with the ending...

Has anyone else read it? I really don't want to say more, as there are too many potential spoilers involved.

One of my favorite novels of 2007.

Probably mentioned earlier in this thread - maybe even by me.

I wouldn't go through the 100 previous pages in the thread either.

[T.D.]

One of my favorite novels of 2007.

Probably mentioned earlier in this thread - maybe even by me.

I wouldn't go through the 100 previous pages in the thread either.

I probably mentioned it somewhere in the thread, as well.

I've read most (all?) of Chabon's novels. My favorites were Wonder Boys and Kavalier & Clay.

(IMO) Yiddish Policemen's Union is good, very clever, but didn't quite meet my (extremely) high expectations. Even though I play chess and am a huge fan of chess-themed novels! I still recommend it, though.

[djbinder]

Asked this in another forum, but since this is the right place: any Andrew Vachss fans, in particular his Burke series? I've been sitting on the last three - Down Here, Mask Market and Terminal and am about to dig in.

I don't think things get more noire than Vachss.....

[T.D.]

Asked this in another forum, but since this is the right place: any Andrew Vachss fans, in particular his Burke series? I've been sitting on the last three - Down Here, Mask Market and Terminal and am about to dig in.

I don't think things get more noire than Vachss.....

I've read several of the Vachss/Burke novels, but haven't kept up with the most recent ones. As an ex-Brooklynite, I really like the seedy NYC atmosphere Vachss evokes. I suppose I'm a moderate fan: I'll read the Burke novels I find at the library, generally dig them, but have certain reservations about Vachss's writing that are hard to explain. His female characters often don't seem three-dimensional, and I perceive a purpleness in some of his stock phrases (eg "Strega, the witch bitch" got tiresome). But his portrayal of the character Wesley, and of institutional/prison life, are great.

Somewhat OT, but have you read any of Barry Eisler's John Rain novels? Rain is an international hitman with heavy CIA/military involvement. I've found them pretty good, though the latest one tailed off a bit.

[djbinder]

I've read several of the Vachss/Burke novels, but haven't kept up with the most recent ones. As an ex-Brooklynite, I really like the seedy NYC atmosphere Vachss evokes. I suppose I'm a moderate fan: I'll read the Burke novels I find at the library, generally dig them, but have certain reservations about Vachss's writing that are hard to explain. His female characters often don't seem three-dimensional, and I perceive a purpleness in some of his stock phrases (eg "Strega, the witch bitch" got tiresome). But his portrayal of the character Wesley, and of institutional/prison life, are great.

I hear ya; yes, some of the characters are a little thin, but the plot lines can be really superb and, if you've followed the novels from the beginning, there's an ever-increasing cast of characters - some, from the earliest novels, making a return it seems, lately. Have to admit, though, that my heart took a big dive when his faithful (and protective) dog, Pansy, took the hit. I figured, since the dog was old, Vachss was going to have to do something more than just let the dog die, but if Burke could said to be truly close to anything, Pansy was it.

Somewhat OT, but have you read any of Barry Eisler's John Rain novels? Rain is an international hitman with heavy CIA/military involvement. I've found them pretty good, though the latest one tailed off a bit.

Are they like Vachss in that it's best to start from the beginning of the series, or can you pick them up anywhere and not lose context? If you need to start at the top, can you give me the title? If not, can you recommend a couple?

Thanks.

[T.D.]

Probably best to try the Eisler Rain novels in chronological order. The first one is Rain Fall. I can't say they're great literature, but pretty exciting within the espionage genre. Lots of globe-trotting, "tradecraft" and cynical plot twists. Perhaps Burke and Rain share some psychological characteristics.

Pity that Burke's dog Pansy died. I think the last novel in the series I read was the one just before she kicked it.

[JohnJ]

Asked this in another forum, but since this is the right place: any Andrew Vachss fans, in particular his Burke series? I've been sitting on the last three - Down Here, Mask Market and Terminal and am about to dig in.

I don't think things get more noire than Vachss.....

I am a big fan of the Burke series. Love the first four or five, indeed as noire as they come.

My favourite modern crime novelist is James Crumley. To quote The Guardian, 'The poet laureate of American hard-bioiled literature'.

[jlhoots]

Asked this in another forum, but since this is the right place: any Andrew Vachss fans, in particular his Burke series? I've been sitting on the last three - Down Here, Mask Market and Terminal and am about to dig in.

I don't think things get more noire than Vachss.....

I am a big fan of the Burke series. Love the first four or five, indeed as noire as they come.

My favourite modern crime novelist is James Crumley. To quote The Guardian, 'The poet laureate of American hard-bioiled literature'.

The Last Good Kiss by Crumley is one of the all-time best in the genre.