Now reading...

[Leeway]

Still on my Anthony Burgess marathon. Finished his "Malayan Trilogy," and "The Doctor is Sick." Now reading the book published in-between the last trilogy volume and "The Doctor is Sick," -- The Right to an Answer.

[BillF]

On the whole, I prefer Gray as a playwright.

[Matthew]

Hearing Secret Harmonies by Anthony Powell. Book twelve of the A Dance To The Music Of Time novel cycle. Critics tend to rate this one as the least of the twelve, but I like it a lot, despite the 1960s feel. I think that The Military Philosphers is the weakest link; it just didn't seem to move the story along. Other than to make sure everyone knew what a terrible person Pamala Widmerool is, not much happened that I found interesting. Still, the whole is a great work of art.

PS: It looks like Kindle will have some of Powell's early novels available on March 26.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Matthew

[jazzbo]

[niels]

Re-reading all my Dostoevsky's. Currently busy with "The Idiot"

[Jerry_L]

[A Lark Ascending]

Has neither the rich social context or character depth of Mankell and suffers from what seems like a rather plain translation; but the story has me intrigued. 1/4 to go and I still can't work out who done it (or what was done).

[Leeway]

Have been continuing my trek through Burgess. So far:

• Time for a Tiger, (1956)
• The Enemy in the Blanket, (1958)
• Beds in the East, (1959)
• The Doctor is Sick, (1960)
• The Right to an Answer, (1960)
• One Hand Clapping (1961)

Next up (re-read) A Clockwork Orange, then perhaps The Wanting Seed. I'd like to re-read The Complete Enderby and then the autobiography, Little Wilson. Might need a break after that; we shall see. Of the group of novels listed above, I'd say the first three are superior, followed by The Right to an Answer, The Doctor is Sick, and One Hand Clapping.

[ejp626]

Finished the Pessl. It took quite a swerve towards the end.

Nearly done with Chromos by Felipe Alfau. He only wrote two novels (the other one was Locos, which I haven't read). This is the second time around for me with Chromos. It's a little bit postmodern in the sense of one story leading to another to another (like some of the works of Calvino or John Barth). Like most postmodern fiction, there isn't a lot of emotional connection, at least for me.

This weekend I think I'll tackle Hotel Savoy by Joseph Roth. I'm also making decent headway on Cities of the Plain by Proust.

[BillF]

About quarter way through. Manages to be both scholarly and highly readable.

[Jerry_L]

Quite different than the movie.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Jerry_L

[johnblitweiler]

Intriguing looks at a recent sub-genre that I'm unfamiliar with. I enjoy David Whiteis's writing and often agree / disagree with him. Denise Lasalle's foreword is a charming history of the blues.

[jlhoots]

Lorrie Moore: Bark

[ejp626]

Finished the Pessl. It took quite a swerve towards the end.

Nearly done with Chromos by Felipe Alfau. He only wrote two novels (the other one was Locos, which I haven't read). This is the second time around for me with Chromos. It's a little bit postmodern in the sense of one story leading to another to another (like some of the works of Calvino or John Barth). Like most postmodern fiction, there isn't a lot of emotional connection, at least for me.

This weekend I think I'll tackle Hotel Savoy by Joseph Roth. I'm also making decent headway on Cities of the Plain by Proust.

Another 100 pages on Chromos, which I should wrap up tonight.

I really enjoyed Roth's Hotel Savoy. It had shades of Kafka's The Castle, though with a bit more overt humor. Basically the narrator is a former prisoner of war (WWI) and has returned to the city where his uncle lives. While he waits to find if he can get funds to move on from his uncle, he stays at the Hotel Savoy, where well-to-do individuals stay in the bottom three or four floor, while very poor boarders live in the top stories.

[Matthew]

Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindberg, and America's Fight Over World War II. 1939-1941 by Lynne Olson. Interesting account of the battle for, and against, intervention that took place in America.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Matthew

[paul secor]

Penelope Lively's Dancing Fish and Ammonites

I enjoyed this as a behind the scenes look at Penelope Lively's life and her thoughts on aging, memories, and reading. However, I'm pretty sure that it's her fiction that I'll end up rereading and not this book.

[ejp626]

I've read a fair bit over the past couple of weeks.

Joseph Roth's Hotel Savoy was probably the best

Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban was actually a disappointment as nearly all the characters displayed some form of mental illness at some point in the story, and I just couldn't feel any emotional attachment to them.

Michel Tremblay's The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant was generally pretty good, despite a tendency to rely on what we would now consider magical realism. It felt like a mixture of Under Milk Wood and Ulysses, but set in a working-class neighborhood in Montreal.

Nearly done with Helen Smith's Alison Wonderland -- not doing that much for me, but it is short. Too much whimsy and an over-reliance on incredible situations that then undermine the sections of the book that are supposed to generate tension when the main characters are threatened.

I've started Radclyffe Hall's The Unlit Lamp. While this topic (a mother stifling her daughter) has been done to death, Hall adds a number of droll touches that move things along. However, it is possible that as the story gets darker, these will be sacrificed.

Probably the next book after this will be Molly Keane's Two Days in Aragon.

[jazzbo]

[A Lark Ascending]

Alongside the McLaughlin bio mentioned elsewhere:

Really enjoying this. Starts in pre-Anschluss Vienna and moves through Kristallnacht to wartime London. Will be looking out the others in the series.

Should appeal to David Downing and Alan Furst fans.

[BillF]

About quarter way through. Manages to be both scholarly and highly readable.

Now finished it. Full of fascinating information and recommended without reservation. Having read it, though, I think a more accurate subtitle would have been "The Man Who Used Jazz to Make Money".

[Simon8]

Lorrie Moore: Bark

How do you like it ? Moore is one of my favorite writer ("Birds of America" was brilliant).

[jazzbo]

Boy this is tough going. I've started this one as well for reading at my parents where I can be interrupted at any moment, moment after moment.

Edited April 3, 2014 by jazzbo

[crisp]

The last few books I've read:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick: the third of his that I've read. Brilliant and quite cinematic (I haven't seen Blade Runner)

Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes: I get chills just typing the title. Very moving and actually quite upsetting. This book meant a lot to me.

Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham: flawed construction but the prose is peerless as always. Got me back into Maugham.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham: now this is more like it. The transformation the main character undertakes is brilliantly done.

Now on W. Somerset Maugham's Cakes and Ale: this might be one of his lesser efforts I expect but gorgeous prose as always.

[jazzbo]

crisp, glad you dug Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I've read all of Dick's works, most more than twice, and that one is a favorite.

I love Maugham! Reminds me that I need to reread some soon.

[jlhoots]

Lorrie Moore: Bark

How do you like it ? Moore is one of my favorite writer ("Birds of America" was brilliant).

I thought the Moore was excellent.