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[jlhoots]

Louise Erdrich: The Night Watchman

[mjazzg]

2 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Louise Erdrich: The Night Watchman

I had forgotten about her. I was knocked out by one of her novels back in the 80s but I can't remember which it was. I should reacquaint myself.

[jlhoots]

14 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

I had forgotten about her. I was knocked out by one of her novels back in the 80s but I can't remember which it was. I should reacquaint myself.

Love Medicine was the first one I read. Have read almost every novel of hers since. This one won the Pulitzer prize.

[erwbol]

[mjazzg]

Just finished.  Always a joy to read another Barry, here's to the next one.

And now

[jlhoots]

I'm also currently reading Sun Ra's Chicago.

[ghost of miles]

A new NYRB Classics reprint of this novel by William Gardner Smith, a writer who’s long intrigued me—many years ago I tracked down a copy of his South Street, the only book by him that I’ve read to date. Anybody interested in depictions fictional or otherwise of the mid-20th century Black expatriate community in Paris might want to pick this one up: 

And

[jlhoots]

Helene Wecker: The Hidden Palace

[danasgoodstuff]

Merging Lines: American Railroads 1900-1970, by Richard Saunders, Jr..  He does a good job of pulling an interesting narrative out of the sea of detail that is railroading in 20th Century America.  Lots of maps and other facts and figures, but not overwhelmingly so.  Surely the most thoroughly documented industry ever?  Like baseball, it just seems to lend itself to obsessing over details and stats.  My dad loved trains and so do I, so this renewed interest works for me on many levels.

[HutchFan]

[Rabshakeh]

14 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:

Merging Lines: American Railroads 1900-1970, by Richard Saunders, Jr..  He does a good job of pulling an interesting narrative out of the sea of detail that is railroading in 20th Century America.  Lots of maps and other facts and figures, but not overwhelmingly so.  Surely the most thoroughly documented industry ever?  Like baseball, it just seems to lend itself to obsessing over details and stats.  My dad loved trains and so do I, so this renewed interest works for me on many levels.

It's an interesting topic. The story of how a country was built. 

[mjazzg]

William Langland - Piers Plowman

[Rabshakeh]

4 hours ago, mjazzg said:

William Langland - Piers Plowman

Gosh. Getting stuck in ahead of the inevitable next lockdown?

Edited July 23, 2021 by Rabshakeh

[mjazzg]

9 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

Gosh. Getting stuck in ahead of the inevitable next lockdown?

Ha ha! Yes, a light summer read.  The edition I have, Oxford World Classics, is surprisingly readable, so far.

Inspired by R4's 'In Our Time' a few months ago.

Edited July 23, 2021 by mjazzg

[danasgoodstuff]

18 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

It's an interesting topic. The story of how a country was built. 

And then nearly fell apart in its moment of triumph.  RRs are not just a relic of the past, although they will never be as central as they once were.  But they are very well documented (except maybe 'what were they thinking'), but all that data leaves plenty of room for interpretation.  And they impinge on all other sorts of things.  It's hard to not be nostalgic for a time when jazz was jazz, blues was blues, country was country, and the train went everywhere.  I know better, but it's still hard.  Just the sight or sound of a train makes me happy.

[felser]

Fascinating book

[jlhoots]

Douglas Stuart: Shuggie Bain

[mjazzg]

Just started Louise Erdrich - The Night Watchman

Prompted by a jhoots post a while back

[Bluesnik]

On 6/19/2021 at 0:49 AM, ghost of miles said:

I recently found out while researching Christiane F. that she has a book called I, Christiane F. My second life from 2015, where she narrates how dreadful her live has been and still is.

[NIS]

On 8/23/2021 at 1:48 PM, mjazzg said:

Just started Louise Erdrich - The Night Watchman

Prompted by a jhoots post a while back

Just finished "The Night Watchman".  Going to the library to find some more Erdrich.

[jlhoots]

43 minutes ago, NIS said:

Just finished "The Night Watchman".  Going to the library to find some more Erdrich.

There's plenty that's worthwhile!!

[ghost of miles]

Recently re-read William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow and am now re-reading his earlier novel the Folded Leaf, both via Library of America volumes of his work.  Beautifully-written books, and while it's hard to say that a writer canonized in the LOA is "underrated," I think more present-day attention would not be unwarranted:

[ghost of miles]

[Bluesnik]

A mesmerizing book about Krautrock. Not only that, it's also about the rebuilding of postwar Germany, as the krautrockers seeked to build a new mode of expression leaving old Germany and also English/American imperialism behind. They were late 60s hippies, and it's all too understandable. And the book is very well written and documented. I can feel that as a half German. I used to spend all my summers in Germany in the 60s (as a kid) and the 70s (as a teenager), and the first 80s (as a twen). And I've got a feeling for what that country was up to. The author, from whom I'm also expecting another book on the history of electronica (Mars by 1980), seems to have a deep knowledge of Germany going back to his own schooldays.

[jlhoots]

C.J. Box: Dark Sky (A Joe Pickett novel)