Now reading...

[jlhoots]

Smith Henderson: 4th Of July Creek

Edited April 5, 2015 by jlhoots

[Matthew]

How is this book? I'd like to read something about Capra that delves a little deeper than the usual "Mr. Optimism" take.

It delves very deeply into his character, forever dispelling the popular image of Capra as a Norman Rockwell type champion of the little man.

It covers his life in detail, from his early life in Sicily to his death at 93.

It puts his major films in clear historic and social perspective, shows what a disaster WW2 was for him, he never really found his feet again, apart from the final supernova of It's A Wonderful Life.

The parts that cover the postwar years are depressing reading as it charts his decline and the fearful cloud of MaCarthyism and the House Unamerican Activities, studio blacklist era that really did much to destroy his spirit. His screenwriting collaborations are thoroughly covered.

It's worth reading if you are a Capra fan and don't mind having the way you look at his films substantially altered.

The same author has written two other important director biographies, John Ford and Stephen Spielberg. They are both on my reading list.

Many thanks for the review, I'll have to get it.

[Leeway]

ARROW OF GOD - Chinua Achebe. 3rd volume in the African Trilogy.

The story of a high priest whose pride and arrogance makes him lose his followers and his own mind. Situated temporally between "Things Fall Apart" and "No Longer at Ease," this is probably the most difficult volume in the trilogy. The mass of folklore, custom and religious belief, while interesting, often overwhelm the narrative.

[Jazzmoose]

I'm embarrassed. It never occurred to me to look for other books by Achebe; didn't even know I'd read part of a trilogy. Jeez.. Next thing you know, someone will tell me Harper Lee has more than one novel...

[A Lark Ascending]

Two very different worlds...though both involve self-indulgent arty types.

Enjoyable Easter reading.

Edited April 7, 2015 by A Lark Ascending

[BillF]

Two very different worlds...though both involve self-indulgent arty types.

Enjoyable Easter reading.

I found Romantic Moderns very readable.

[ejp626]

60 pages to go in The Big Money (vol. 3 of USA Trilogy). I'll cross the finish line tonight. It definitely has some interesting moments. What is a bit dispiriting is how many of his characters end up as slightly bad-tempered functional alcoholics, even during this Prohibition Era. I guess he was mostly interested in showing how the grind of trying to make a living in the US (and how many phonies there were and scam artists) broke almost everyone down eventually. One character in particular went from being a good airline mechanic and inventor to a pampered executive who screwed his workers but still thought he was one of the guys. He was one of the biggest lushes in the book. Where Dos Passos is quite frustrating is that few of his storylines (and we follow at least a dozen main characters throughout the trilogy) have any kind of wrap up. He simply stops writing about them. It's sort of akin to a long running TV series but with no finale. I guess this was kind of radical for its time, but I found it frustrating.

As I said, Diary of a Nobody quite soon and, believe it or not, a SF novel set primarily in Lagos: Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon.

[Leeway]

THE HEART OF THE MATTER - Graham Greene

Based on Greene's time in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the novel only ostensibly is an African novel. It has the usual tropical tropes: heat, rain, bugs, "boys," etc. But Greene's type of portable (and potable, considering the among of alcohol drunk) misery could be set anywhere from Asia to Mexico and the Caribbean, and has. The absence of any real African life might be more telling than what is here. Anyway, still a great novel, even if at times I hear the apparatus of religion clunking too noisily away.

60 pages to go in The Big Money (vol. 3 of USA Trilogy). I'll cross the finish line tonight. It definitely has some interesting moments. What is a bit dispiriting is how many of his characters end up as slightly bad-tempered functional alcoholics, even during this Prohibition Era. I guess he was mostly interested in showing how the grind of trying to make a living in the US (and how many phonies there were and scam artists) broke almost everyone down eventually. One character in particular went from being a good airline mechanic and inventor to a pampered executive who screwed his workers but still thought he was one of the guys. He was one of the biggest lushes in the book. Where Dos Passos is quite frustrating is that few of his storylines (and we follow at least a dozen main characters throughout the trilogy) have any kind of wrap up. He simply stops writing about them. It's sort of akin to a long running TV series but with no finale. I guess this was kind of radical for its time, but I found it frustrating.

As I said, Diary of a Nobody quite soon and, believe it or not, a SF novel set primarily in Lagos: Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon.

I read Dos Passos trilogy back in grad school. It always felt quite cinematic to me, as if Dos Passos took Sergei Eisenstein as a model.

Although I have an allergy to most SF, I'll give Okorafor's "Lagoon" a try if you recommend it.

[ejp626]

I read Dos Passos trilogy back in grad school. It always felt quite cinematic to me, as if Dos Passos took Sergei Eisenstein as a model.

Although I have an allergy to most SF, I'll give Okorafor's "Lagoon" a try if you recommend it.

That's a good metaphor. I'm not in love with it, but it is interesting and I'm glad to cross it off the list.

As far as Lagoon, I need to get a bit further in before I can give it a rating. At the moment I am trending slightly towards the negative.

[BillF]

THE HEART OF THE MATTER - Graham Greene

Based on Greene's time in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the novel only ostensibly is an African novel. It has the usual tropical tropes: heat, rain, bugs, "boys," etc. But Greene's type of portable (and potable, considering the among of alcohol drunk) misery could be set anywhere from Asia to Mexico and the Caribbean, and has. The absence of any real African life might be more telling than what is here. Anyway, still a great novel, even if at times I hear the apparatus of religion clunking too noisily away.

60 pages to go in The Big Money (vol. 3 of USA Trilogy). I'll cross the finish line tonight. It definitely has some interesting moments. What is a bit dispiriting is how many of his characters end up as slightly bad-tempered functional alcoholics, even during this Prohibition Era. I guess he was mostly interested in showing how the grind of trying to make a living in the US (and how many phonies there were and scam artists) broke almost everyone down eventually. One character in particular went from being a good airline mechanic and inventor to a pampered executive who screwed his workers but still thought he was one of the guys. He was one of the biggest lushes in the book. Where Dos Passos is quite frustrating is that few of his storylines (and we follow at least a dozen main characters throughout the trilogy) have any kind of wrap up. He simply stops writing about them. It's sort of akin to a long running TV series but with no finale. I guess this was kind of radical for its time, but I found it frustrating.

As I said, Diary of a Nobody quite soon and, believe it or not, a SF novel set primarily in Lagos: Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon.

I read Dos Passos trilogy back in grad school. It always felt quite cinematic to me, as if Dos Passos took Sergei Eisenstein as a model.

Although I have an allergy to most SF, I'll give Okorafor's "Lagoon" a try if you recommend it.

Perhaps it's time I went back to The Heart of the Matter - I haven't read it in 40 years, but remember I liked it.

The only Dos Passos I read - in the 1960s - was Manhattan Transfer and I don't think I managed to get to the end of it.

[ejp626]

As far as Lagoon, I need to get a bit further in before I can give it a rating. At the moment I am trending slightly towards the negative.

I don't think I'd bother with Lagoon. I'm probably not going to finish it myself. I am pretty allergic to books, even those written by Africans, with pidgin English.

[kinuta]

[A Lark Ascending]

Read that one last year - absolutely superb. I don't know a great deal about science in history (or science full stop) - this got me absolutely fascinated, linking it in with Romanticism.

Edited April 10, 2015 by A Lark Ascending

[paul secor]

Ali Smith: There but for the

[ejp626]

Ali Smith: There but for the

The reviews (by average people not literary reviewers) are all over the map. Interesting. You sometimes get this wide range of opinion on Douglas Coupland's work as well. Looks like one I might borrow from library but definitely not purchase.

Anyway, going to launch into Diary of a Nobody today.

[paul secor]

Ali Smith: There but for the

The reviews (by average people not literary reviewers) are all over the map. Interesting. You sometimes get this wide range of opinion on Douglas Coupland's work as well. Looks like one I might borrow from library but definitely not purchase.

Anyway, going to launch into Diary of a Nobody today.

I got the copy I read from the library and didn't know what to expect. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy yesterday. It's a book that I'll reread and/or delve into sections of in the future.

[ejp626]

Ali Smith: There but for the

The reviews (by average people not literary reviewers) are all over the map. Interesting. You sometimes get this wide range of opinion on Douglas Coupland's work as well. Looks like one I might borrow from library but definitely not purchase.

Anyway, going to launch into Diary of a Nobody today.

I got the copy I read from the library and didn't know what to expect. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy yesterday. It's a book that I'll reread and/or delve into sections of in the future.

Ok, good to know. I'll definitely try to get around to it some day. I have just the vaguest idea of its plot, though actually it sounds in this case the comparison to Coupland is apt -- some aspects sound a bit like Generation A (not a misprint, a newish book -- which has garnered divisive reviews). I've liked some of Smith's other work.

[paul secor]

Ali Smith: There but for the

The reviews (by average people not literary reviewers) are all over the map. Interesting. You sometimes get this wide range of opinion on Douglas Coupland's work as well. Looks like one I might borrow from library but definitely not purchase.

Anyway, going to launch into Diary of a Nobody today.

I got the copy I read from the library and didn't know what to expect. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy yesterday. It's a book that I'll reread and/or delve into sections of in the future.

Ok, good to know. I'll definitely try to get around to it some day. I have just the vaguest idea of its plot, though actually it sounds in this case the comparison to Coupland is apt -- some aspects sound a bit like Generation A (not a misprint, a newish book -- which has garnered divisive reviews). I've liked some of Smith's other work.

Haven't read the Coupland (or any Coupland). I'll have to try him someday.

[Leeway]

ONITSHA - 1991- J.M.G. LeClezio

Another reading in Africana fiction. I came across this book on the shelves of the local library (which are pretty threadbare) purely by happenstance. Never heard of the book or the author, who it turns out is a Nobel Prize winner in Literature. The story of a young boy and his Italo-French mother who leave France shortly after WWII to rejoin father, an Englishman who has taken up a trading position in Onitsha, a trading port on the banks of the Niger river. Exposure to the remnants of colonial life leaves a bitter impression on the boy and his mother, and they become increasingly sympathetic to the natives. The Nobel prize refers to Le Clezio's "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" and that is certainly the nature of this book.

[BillF]

Yet another mid-20th century English female novelist! This prize-winning first book from 1950 has some compelling scenes, but also some plotting lapses and lurches into melodrama. Kept me reading though!

[ejp626]

I found Diary of a Nobody a bit exhausting. So many mishaps in one household. However, you can clearly see that Mr. and Mrs. Pooter (and Mr. particularly) are the putative ancestors of Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances. (A show about social strivers that pretty much left me cold.)

Just starting John A. Williams' !Click Song. So far I am liking it a bit better than The Man Who Cried I Am.

This month and next month are set aside to go through novels I've carted around for over 10 years in some cases without cracking them. Now is the time to find out if it was worth it.

In addition to !Click Song, I am tackling The Burn by Vassily Aksynov and Bleeding London by Geoff Nicholson. This should keep me fairly busy. After this, I will read Of Human Bondage, where I am fairly certain I will enjoy the book.

[Matthew]

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh. Granted, this is a very light-weight book, so light, I need to tie it down so it doesn't float away when I read it. Given that, I still find this one of the most enjoyable Waugh novels to read, it has that uniquely English humor that reigned in pre-WWII England, and in this aspect, lies its genius.

[A Lark Ascending]

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh. Granted, this is a very light-weight book, so light, I need to tie it down so it doesn't float away when I read it. Given that, I still find this one of the most enjoyable Waugh novels to read, it has that uniquely English humor that reigned in pre-WWII England, and in this aspect, lies its genius.

Just finished that myself a couple of hours back.

Didn't care for it at all. Privilege making fun of the world of privilege he was happily luxuriating in.

[Matthew]

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh. Granted, this is a very light-weight book, so light, I need to tie it down so it doesn't float away when I read it. Given that, I still find this one of the most enjoyable Waugh novels to read, it has that uniquely English humor that reigned in pre-WWII England, and in this aspect, lies its genius.

Just finished that myself a couple of hours back.

Didn't care for it at all. Privilege making fun of the world of privilege he was happily luxuriating in.

I can understand what you're saying, not just about this book, but about Waugh in general. His unpleasant personality and snooty misanthropy, do tend to bleed into his novels.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Matthew

[A Lark Ascending]

I read 'Brideshead' years ago and recall enjoying it.

But there was something about 'Decline and Fall' that grated.

I'd hoped to enjoy the book and then work through some of the other novels. But I've decided against that.