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I'm currently reading Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, which I was surprised to find was written in the early 90's (I'd heard of it before and for some reason thought it was from the 60's). So far like it a lot, a bit lighter than I was expecting but I have a feeling some hosed up things are around the corner, in any case the writing is excellent. However I wanted to recommend to you guys a book I read last year, a classic that really everyone should read - The Leopard by Guiseppe di Lampedusa. The story itself is a sort of simple character study, at different points in his life, of a somewhat liberal aristocrat in Sicily at the time that Italy was starting to unite and turn towards republicanism, at the time of Garibaldi. But what really makes the book special is these very strong and emotional images that the author creates, moments that make it seem almost like you are reading a series of paintings. Also more recently I read The Son by Philip Meyer which is definitely the best new American novel I have read in a long time. It's arguably genre (western) but I think it's one of those books that really transcends genre. It follows three characters within one Texas family, starting in 1848 when a family of settlers is murdered by the Comanche and their teen son taken captive - he lives as a Comanche for three years until they die mostly of disease, at which point he goes back to white society and joins the Texas Rangers, and eventually becomes a rancher. It also follows his son who is the sort of liberal "black sheep" of the family, and his great-granddaughter who took over the beef and oil empire he built, and rotates between these three viewpoints throughout the book.
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Feb 11, 2014 02:45
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Stravinsky posted:Hey Earwicker, you ever finish you british huffy historian talking about Russia book? How did it turn out? No I'm still in the beginning of the Gorbachev era, decided to put it down a bit for some fiction because it was irritating me. Basically the main problem with it is that it focuses almost entirely on politics, and Russians are presented as an "other" pretty much the entire time. There's a constant refrain of "and here's another point at which the Russians could have created a nice liberal democracy like a real country but they hosed it up again". If only Novgorod hadn't been destroyed. If only Kiev had stayed the dominant Russian power instead of Moscow. If only Catherine would have kept her youthful ideas and stayed in agreement with Voltaire. If only Alexander II hadn't been blown up. If only the Mencheviks had prevailed. If only Lenin's letter about Stalin had been found. If only Kruschev wasn't a "crude peasant", and so on. But no, the Russians are forever doomed to the "Asiatic" autocracy permanently embedded into their psyche by the Mongols.
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Feb 12, 2014 00:18
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Declan MacManus posted:So where do you guys go to find out about the latest novels? The only release information I can find is about various garbage and celebrity memoir and I don't feel like combing through Simon and Schuster's release schedule to see what authors they're pushing to retain credibility. http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/index.html http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/ If you want more like up-to-the-moment release news just pick out a bunch of literary imprints that publish stuff you like and follow them on Twitter.
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Feb 28, 2014 17:28
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Along those lines I would also strongly recommend Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavic. It also has a structural "gimmick" in that it is read in lexicon format than as a linear novel, but it's a fictional and somewhat magical realist story both about the ancient Khazar people and about 20th century Yugoslavia. The writing is very good IMO much stronger than the "gimmick" nature of the book would suggest.
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Mar 13, 2014 19:50
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Mr. Squishy posted:"not a gentleman." drat.. I mean I know the guy's a pedophile and lovely person in general but "not a gentleman".. that's just incredibly harsh, I'm surprised Penguin allowed that in print.
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Mar 15, 2014 16:16
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Dreylad posted:It depends on the scope of the class. My uncle teaches English, and when he teaches Victorian novels he gets plenty of time to show how hosed up and strange a lot of the Victorians were. I saw a movie about George Eliot wherein she rode a horse into a dude's office and had the horse take a dump on his desk.
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Apr 13, 2014 15:20
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Guy A. Person posted:So I am trying to expand my reading habits and one of those ways is trying to read more lit from other cultures/countries. I have Europe covered pretty well, as well as Russia, Japan and a little from China (Mo Yan mostly). Looking for any recommendations from South America (I got Marquez and Bolano covered), Australia, India, the rest of East Asia, the Middle East, ummmm, anywhere else you guys recommend. Borges' short stories of course from Argentina Season of Migration to the North by Talib Salih from Sudan The Day the Leader was Killed and Wedding Song by Naguib Mahfouz from Egypt The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer from South Africa The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy from India Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh from India Shame by Salman Rushdie from India Earwicker fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Apr 20, 2014 |
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Apr 20, 2014 19:25
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Lewd Mangabey posted:Satanic Verses is quite good; Moor's Last Sigh and Midnight's Children are probably more "typical" Rushdie. Don't bother reading any of the newer ones he sets in NYC. IMO Shame is also very good.
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Jun 11, 2014 00:15
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