Now reading...

[Leeway]

IN A FREE STATE - V.S. Naipul - 1971. Winner of the 1971 Booker Prize

A Prologue, an Epilogue, two short takes, and the long title tale to which the other pieces seem only tenuously related. The long title piece is the thing here, beautifully crafted, keenly observed. tautly presented, often nasty and brutish too, Naipul's revisioning of Conrad in a post-Colonial world.

[ejp626]

IN A FREE STATE - V.S. Naipul - 1971. Winner of the 1971 Booker Prize

A Prologue, an Epilogue, two short takes, and the long title tale to which the other pieces seem only tenuously related. The long title piece is the thing here, beautifully crafted, keenly observed. tautly presented, often nasty and brutish too, Naipul's revisioning of Conrad in a post-Colonial world.

I think this is a book one either really likes or dislikes. I'm slowly coming back around to Naipaul -- only having read A House for Mr. Biswas and A Bend in the River. I have a few other early works to get to, and then I'll see about In a Free State. I have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate him.

I have just a few more pages to go in my rereading of Nightwood. It's still quite brilliant, though hardly as shocking as it once would have been. I do think I have a better understanding of the doctor this time around. Not much sympathy for Felix on either reading, I'm afraid.

A couple of short things remaining (Joseph Roth's Weights and Measures and Jonathan Lethem's Lucky Alan) and then I am delving into Dos Passos's USA Trilogy. I might see if the library has the individual books, as the hardcover is just not going to be easy to read on the train.

[BillF]

THE MIGHTY AND THEIR FALL - 1955- Ivy Compton-Burnett

Written almost entirely in dialogue (or one might better say, aphorisms posing as dialogue), this is the story of the corruption of a family. The near-complete lack of narrative guideposts can be disturbing or confusing at times, but if one stays with it, ICB demonstrates a surgeon's hand in dissecting the power plays, hatreds, exploitations and general nastiness of family members bound together by self-interest, arrogance, and pride (or the lack of it). If you like that sort of thing, it can even be funny at times, with a mordant humor.

I haven't read any Compton-Burnett, but she's on my list of authors to look into. Wikipedia says that Manservant and Maidservant (published in the US as Bullivant and the Lambs) is often considered to be her best work and the university library has a copy, so we shall see ....

Have just given up on A Family and a Fortune.You very accurately describe Burnett's idiosyncratic style, but I just wasn't prepared to make the effort ....

[Leeway]

Yes, I can understand that. Maybe another time.

[ejp626]

Got through Lethem's Lucky Alan in about a day and a half (it is very short - 150 pages). I have to admit, I didn't think very highly of it. Two stories were sort of interesting but not really well developed (title story and "Pending Vegan"), and "The Porn Critic" had some grubby fascination, and that was about it. Definitely glad I borrowed this from the library.

One more novella, Albert Cossery's The Colors of Infamy, and I launch into Dos Passos.

What I wasn't expecting is that Patrick Modiano's Suspended Sentences would be ready from the library. I'll have to read this after Dos Passos. Modiano won the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, and there is now all this interest in him. It appears that most of his best work is all tied up in memory and history and an obsession with Occupied France. Anyone have a favorite novel? What is particularly intriguing is that this seems to be the same ground that Emmanuel Bove trod, so there is surely a dissertation in that (for somebody else to write...).

[Jazzmoose]

I was moving boxes, opened one, and found my Dashiell Hammett books. Started with The Thin Man. I always save Red Harvest for last; that one always gets me!

Edited March 18, 2015 by Jazzmoose

[Jazzmoose]

I had a lousy day at work today. I pulled out The Thin Man at lunch, dropped it on the floor, and the book exploded into five sections. Admittedly, according to my note, the book was purchased in February of 1981 (at the Yakosuka PX, probably), so it's held up for thirty four years and I have no idea how many reads. Still, I can't help feeling like an old friend has passed on...

[kinuta]

[jlhoots]

Mark Twain: Roughing It

[Leeway]

Mark Twain: Roughing It

Twainians might appreciate this review by Michael Dirda of a new Twain bio (focusing on his travels):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-new-biography-of-the-most-famous-american-of-his-time-mark-twain/2015/03/18/f5b9a48e-cbf7-11e4-a2a7-9517a3a70506_story.html

Edited March 21, 2015 by Leeway

[Leeway]

A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA - William Boyd

Naipul's In a Free State has launched me on a bit of an African fiction tour. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, Ghana. The novel focuses on the First Secretary, Morgan Leafy, of the bumbling British Legation in fictional Kinjaja. This is really a plot driven book, featuring all kinds of mad and zany events. I thought of calling it "Lucky Jim in Africa." Boyd was definitely studying his Kingsley Amis. The plot devices I found too contrived, and the author never met a stereotype he didn't like. I found his insights into African life surprisingly superficial and often obtuse. Boyd, in another context, uses the term "unreflecting intimacy," and I think that fits this book quite well. It's an amusing read for a plane ride, but yields no great insights. In this regard, Boyd is far below Naipul in literary merit.

[BillF]

A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA - William Boyd

Naipul's In a Free State has launched me on a bit of an African fiction tour. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, Ghana. The novel focuses on the First Secretary, Morgan Leafy, of the bumbling British Legation in fictional Kinjaja. This is really a plot driven book, featuring all kinds of mad and zany events. I thought of calling it "Lucky Jim in Africa." Boyd was definitely studying his Kingsley Amis. The plot devices I found too contrived, and the author never met a stereotype he didn't like. I found his insights into African life surprisingly superficial and often obtuse. Boyd, in another context, uses the term "unreflecting intimacy," and I think that fits this book quite well. It's an amusing read for a plane ride, but yields no great insights. In this regard, Boyd is far below Naipul in literary merit.

Read that about 25 years ago and fond it moderately entertaining and reasonably well written. Then moved on to Boyd's Ice-Cream War and Brazzaville Beach, both with African settings. Of the three, Brazzaville is the most memorable.

[A Lark Ascending]

Utterly depressing.

[BillF]

Utterly depressing.

I can imagine!

[Leeway]

A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA - William Boyd

Naipul's In a Free State has launched me on a bit of an African fiction tour. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, Ghana. The novel focuses on the First Secretary, Morgan Leafy, of the bumbling British Legation in fictional Kinjaja. This is really a plot driven book, featuring all kinds of mad and zany events. I thought of calling it "Lucky Jim in Africa." Boyd was definitely studying his Kingsley Amis. The plot devices I found too contrived, and the author never met a stereotype he didn't like. I found his insights into African life surprisingly superficial and often obtuse. Boyd, in another context, uses the term "unreflecting intimacy," and I think that fits this book quite well. It's an amusing read for a plane ride, but yields no great insights. In this regard, Boyd is far below Naipul in literary merit.

Read that about 25 years ago and fond it moderately entertaining and reasonably well written. Then moved on to Boyd's Ice-Cream War and Brazzaville Beach, both with African settings. Of the three, Brazzaville is the most memorable.

"Moderately entertaining is about right. I do want to read Ice Cream War.

Just finished:

Mister Johnson - Joyce Cary -1939

Set in Nigeria and western Sudan during pre-WWII British colonial rule, this is the story of the larger-than-life African Mister Johnson and his roller-coaster fortunes in the colony. I can see some objections to its picture of life in the colony but overall I think his view is unsparing but not ungenerous, towards both Africans and British, black and white (including Moslems). I found it more rewarding that Boyd's A Good Man.

[ejp626]

About 2/3 done with 49th Parallel - the first in Dos Passos's USA Trilogy. It does get a bit easier as you get deeper into it. At times it feels like a somewhat spicier Drieser or maybe a more scattered Steinbeck.

It's quite interesting that over time, Dos Passos swung very far to the right, briefly backing McCarthy! and even campaigning for Goldwater and Nixon! I'm assuming this is pretty closely related to why English professors act as if Dos Passos never wrote a thing after the USA Trilogy...

Anyway, at my current rate, I think I'll be done in just over two weeks.

[BillF]

A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA - William Boyd

Naipul's In a Free State has launched me on a bit of an African fiction tour. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, Ghana. The novel focuses on the First Secretary, Morgan Leafy, of the bumbling British Legation in fictional Kinjaja. This is really a plot driven book, featuring all kinds of mad and zany events. I thought of calling it "Lucky Jim in Africa." Boyd was definitely studying his Kingsley Amis. The plot devices I found too contrived, and the author never met a stereotype he didn't like. I found his insights into African life surprisingly superficial and often obtuse. Boyd, in another context, uses the term "unreflecting intimacy," and I think that fits this book quite well. It's an amusing read for a plane ride, but yields no great insights. In this regard, Boyd is far below Naipul in literary merit.

Read that about 25 years ago and fond it moderately entertaining and reasonably well written. Then moved on to Boyd's Ice-Cream War and Brazzaville Beach, both with African settings. Of the three, Brazzaville is the most memorable.

"Moderately entertaining is about right. I do want to read Ice Cream War.

Just finished:

Mister Johnson - Joyce Cary -1939

Set in Nigeria and western Sudan during pre-WWII British colonial rule, this is the story of the larger-than-life African Mister Johnson and his roller-coaster fortunes in the colony. I can see some objections to its picture of life in the colony but overall I think his view is unsparing but not ungenerous, towards both Africans and British, black and white (including Moslems). I found it more rewarding that Boyd's A Good Man.

Now I do remember that as a good one, though it's lain unopened on my bookshelf for decades. On this African theme, you'll have to read (re-read?) Graham Greene Burnt Out Case, etc.

[Leeway]

A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA - William Boyd

Naipul's In a Free State has launched me on a bit of an African fiction tour. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, Ghana. The novel focuses on the First Secretary, Morgan Leafy, of the bumbling British Legation in fictional Kinjaja. This is really a plot driven book, featuring all kinds of mad and zany events. I thought of calling it "Lucky Jim in Africa." Boyd was definitely studying his Kingsley Amis. The plot devices I found too contrived, and the author never met a stereotype he didn't like. I found his insights into African life surprisingly superficial and often obtuse. Boyd, in another context, uses the term "unreflecting intimacy," and I think that fits this book quite well. It's an amusing read for a plane ride, but yields no great insights. In this regard, Boyd is far below Naipul in literary merit.

Read that about 25 years ago and fond it moderately entertaining and reasonably well written. Then moved on to Boyd's Ice-Cream War and Brazzaville Beach, both with African settings. Of the three, Brazzaville is the most memorable.

"Moderately entertaining is about right. I do want to read Ice Cream War.

Just finished:

Mister Johnson - Joyce Cary -1939

Set in Nigeria and western Sudan during pre-WWII British colonial rule, this is the story of the larger-than-life African Mister Johnson and his roller-coaster fortunes in the colony. I can see some objections to its picture of life in the colony but overall I think his view is unsparing but not ungenerous, towards both Africans and British, black and white (including Moslems). I found it more rewarding that Boyd's A Good Man.

Now I do remember that as a good one, though it's lain unopened on my bookshelf for decades. On this African theme, you'll have to read (re-read?) Graham Greene Burnt Out Case, etc.

I'm reading A Bend in the River at the moment, then hope to move on to Chinua Achebe (I've read Things Fall Apart but I want to read the trilogy this time), and perhaps some other African authors. I've read the Greene book, and might very well read it again in this new context. Thanks for the good suggestion.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Leeway

[ejp626]

A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA - William Boyd

Naipul's In a Free State has launched me on a bit of an African fiction tour. Boyd was born and raised in West Africa, Ghana. The novel focuses on the First Secretary, Morgan Leafy, of the bumbling British Legation in fictional Kinjaja. This is really a plot driven book, featuring all kinds of mad and zany events. I thought of calling it "Lucky Jim in Africa." Boyd was definitely studying his Kingsley Amis. The plot devices I found too contrived, and the author never met a stereotype he didn't like. I found his insights into African life surprisingly superficial and often obtuse. Boyd, in another context, uses the term "unreflecting intimacy," and I think that fits this book quite well. It's an amusing read for a plane ride, but yields no great insights. In this regard, Boyd is far below Naipul in literary merit.

Read that about 25 years ago and fond it moderately entertaining and reasonably well written. Then moved on to Boyd's Ice-Cream War and Brazzaville Beach, both with African settings. Of the three, Brazzaville is the most memorable.

"Moderately entertaining is about right. I do want to read Ice Cream War.

Just finished:

Mister Johnson - Joyce Cary -1939

Set in Nigeria and western Sudan during pre-WWII British colonial rule, this is the story of the larger-than-life African Mister Johnson and his roller-coaster fortunes in the colony. I can see some objections to its picture of life in the colony but overall I think his view is unsparing but not ungenerous, towards both Africans and British, black and white (including Moslems). I found it more rewarding that Boyd's A Good Man.

Now I do remember that as a good one, though it's lain unopened on my bookshelf for decades. On this African theme, you'll have to read (re-read?) Graham Greene Burnt Out Case, etc.

I'm reading A Bend in the River at the moment, then hope to move on to Chinua Achebe (I've read Things Fall Apart but I want to read the trilogy this time), and perhaps some other African authors. I've read the Greene book, and might very well read it again in this new context. Thanks for the good suggestion.

Have you read Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country? I thought it was really interesting.

A somewhat more obscure novel is Ayi Kwei Armah's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (though apparently it inspired a Branford Marsalis album...).

For a really obscure post-apartheid novel, you might try Phaswane Mpe's Welcome to Our Hillbrow, though it is awfully depressing.

[paul secor]

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

[ejp626]

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

I really like that play. I've seen it in 3 different productions!

[paul secor]

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

I really like that play. I've seen it in 3 different productions!

I'd love to see a production. The closest I can probably come right now is to pick up a performance on CD from our library system.

I see there are some scenes available on You Tube, so I'll those out also.

[ejp626]

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

I really like that play. I've seen it in 3 different productions!

I'd love to see a production. The closest I can probably come right now is to pick up a performance on CD from our library system.

I see there are some scenes available on You Tube, so I'll those out also.

One of the coolest features out there (for theatre lovers) is Now Playing at Samuel French: http://www.samuelfrench.com/now-playing

(I see 6 or 7 productions in the US, mostly this spring).

Also DPS page-to-stage: http://www.dramatists.com/pagetostage/productions.aspx

But French is the agency representing Stoppard.

[Jazzmoose]

About 2/3 done with 49th Parallel - the first in Dos Passos's USA Trilogy. It does get a bit easier as you get deeper into it. At times it feels like a somewhat spicier Drieser or maybe a more scattered Steinbeck.

It's quite interesting that over time, Dos Passos swung very far to the right, briefly backing McCarthy! and even campaigning for Goldwater and Nixon! I'm assuming this is pretty closely related to why English professors act as if Dos Passos never wrote a thing after the USA Trilogy...

Anyway, at my current rate, I think I'll be done in just over two weeks.

I'm trying to decide if I liked that. I seem to remember enjoying the first two, but I lost the third and never had any desire to go back and finish. Not a rousing endorsement...

[ejp626]

About 2/3 done with 49th Parallel - the first in Dos Passos's USA Trilogy. It does get a bit easier as you get deeper into it. At times it feels like a somewhat spicier Drieser or maybe a more scattered Steinbeck.

It's quite interesting that over time, Dos Passos swung very far to the right, briefly backing McCarthy! and even campaigning for Goldwater and Nixon! I'm assuming this is pretty closely related to why English professors act as if Dos Passos never wrote a thing after the USA Trilogy...

Anyway, at my current rate, I think I'll be done in just over two weeks.

I'm trying to decide if I liked that. I seem to remember enjoying the first two, but I lost the third and never had any desire to go back and finish. Not a rousing endorsement...

It's funny because Dos Passos starts out by just mocking Horatio Alger a bit in the first book and clearly has some understanding that massive structural forces are what cause mass unemployment and that the deck is stacked against workers, and yet he still has individuals triumph against the odds and most of his labor leaders are humans with serious foibles (as opposed to the almost inhuman overachievers). And somehow he turns so far against leftist movements that it is like he repudiates everything he once wrote. That is pretty sad.

I do think the last section of the 49th Parallel where he talks about the mood of pro-War near-hysteria surrounding the US entry into WWI is quite good. FWIW, I'll definitely finish the trilogy.