Eliz M: it's all downhill from here

Hello, Welcome to my second 1001-books thread!

I have always been an avid reader and fervent list lover. As early as second grade I cajoled the school librarians to provide me with a copy of the posted Recommended Reading lists for grades 4-6 and determinedly read my way through them. I have been collecting lists of books to read ever since. After finding the 1001 Books list in late 2007, I have focused primarily on reading books from it. I much prefer the 2008 (and later versions) for their expanded international scope.

According to Arukiyomi's fabulous spreadsheet, I have read 653 books from the combined list of 1305 books, the halfway point. As I tend to read too much too quickly and often forgot the basic plot of books I read not too long ago, I hope to use this space to collect random thoughts about the books I read and to encourage myself to be more mindful of what I read.

While I am going to limit reviews to the books included in 2008 edition, which I own, I will enumerate the books on all the lists, in order to match this list with Arukiyomi's spreadsheet (and to be higher up on the index ;) ).

654. (finished 5/15/15) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, pub. 1861



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Shorter and more quickly composed than Dickens's giant social panoramas of the 1850s, Great Expectations gains from this pacing, as it unfolds like a fever-dream. Victorian writers were fond of 'fictional autobiographies', but this novel has another layer of unsettling irony, in that it tells of someone who has been constructing himself as a fictional character...."

It is a variation on the familiar rags-to-riches story -- a precocious young boy is introduced to an eccentric, wealthy woman and her beautiful young ward. From this encounter, the boy becomes ashamed of his family's poverty and dissatisfied with his lot desperately desiring the means to become a gentleman and win the hand of the beautiful young ward. Fate smiles upon him and he informed that he has had a fortune settled on him by an unknown benefactor and he is whisked away to be transformed into a gentleman.

I am not fond of Dickens, generally. I find much of the description in his novels tedious and the number of "coincidences" required to drive his plots are almost enough to give me eyestrain from rolling them so often. Having been exposed to a selection from Great Expectations in middle school (probably the Miss Havisham encounter) inculcated an irrational distaste for GE. I had, thus, put off reading this one for a very long time and it is the last Dickens from the 2008 list.

I may have known too much of the story to enjoy reading it. The strength of Dickens's work is usually the creation of a world peopled with a large quantity of unusual characters. But here the world seems to be limited to Pip and his immediate surroundings. The initial description of Miss Havisham is masterful, but knowing her history in advance makes the slow reveal of it uninteresting. After all, she is a character that remains unchanged for the majority of the novel. Off the top of my head, I don't think I can name above a half-dozen other characters. While this may not have been the author's intent, but it felt as if one of the messages of the book was that Pip (people) would have been better off if he did not have expectations -- it felt as if occasionally asides were touting an "ignorance is bliss" mentality that I found troublesome. So while there are many individual scenes that are exceptionally well-written, I was never quite able to engross myself in the story enough to suspend disbelief and take pleasure in it.

655. (finished 5/22/15) Evelina by Frances Burney, pub. 1778



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "One of the novels greatest strengths is the way in which Burney filters the bustle of London society through the shy consciousness of Evelina.... But for its depiction of psychological interactions in a solidly imagined social setting, {it} marks a high point in late eighteenth-century fiction."

Evelina, the illegitimate and unrecognized daughter of an English lord, has been raised in the countryside by a pastor after the death of her mother. She has been brought up simply, instilled with humility, propriety, and morality. Her guardian allows her to visit friends and agrees to allow her to accompany them to London for a few weeks. Once in London her beauty and naivete result in many suitors and even more awkward situations.

This epistolary novel alternates between charming and infuriating. As most of the novel is told from her point of view, it is difficult to not feel some empathy for her. And as she describes her awkwardness and ignorance of social norms and proper behavior at her first London ball, one cringes with her. But as the novel progresses and her "politeness" and submissiveness allow one bad situation after another to occur, it is a little frustrating. And the episodes around Mme. Duval and Captain Mirvan very quickly deteriorate from humorous to horrific and repetitive. Luckily these episodes, eventually, are put rest and the remainder of the novel is more of a conventional romance.

656. (finished 5/23/15) Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence, narrated by John Lee, pub. 1928



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "What remains so powerful and so unusual about this novel is not just its honesty about the power of the sexual bond between a man and a woman , but the fact that...it remains one of the few novels in English literary history that addresses female sexual desire.... As if all this were not enough to mark {it} as one of the truly great English novels, it is also a sustained and profound reflection on the state of modern society and the threat to culture and humanity of the unceasing tide of industrialization and capitalism."

The title, basically, is also the plot. Constance and her sister are from the well-to-do intellectual class of Scotland and living a freer student life in Germany when political unrest forces their return to England. They mix with the young intelligentsia and artists in London and Constance marries a young man a few week before he goes to serve in WWI. The older brother is killed and the husband, crippled, returns to England as Sir Clifford. Constance dutifully retreats to the family estate with her wounded husband and two make a life of sorts. Sir Clifford unable to love Constance sexually is also unwilling unable to give her physical affection, although he does love her and depend on her. But as time goes on, Constance grows weary of the life and disillusioned with Clifford's intelligence -- he is a good writer with medium successes, but will never be a great writer. She has an affair, not terribly satisfactory, with one of the frequent guests. And then, the fateful encounter with Oliver Mellors, the estate's gamekeeper.

Audio was definitely the right medium for this work. John Lee is an excellent narrator, making sense out of Lawrence's syntax. I had tried reading this many years ago and gave up on it, exceedingly bored and not finding anything shocking or even remotely racy (it must have been an expurgated version). The narration deftly allows the description (that I would have skimmed over) to resonate with the actions and moods of the characters. The characterization is wonderfully done and I was fascinated at by the odd conversations that were forced out of the unusual disruption the lovers caused in their world. It's also an intriguing picture of a particular time in English society, as it is recovering from the war and class and gender restrictions are beginning to loosen and capitalism is restructuring work and social relations.

I find it incredible that, despite you being over halfway through the entire list, the last three books you've tackled on your homeward stretch are ones I read ages ago!

I agree that these last 3 are well known. Although I've personally only read Great Expectations (many years ago as I'm a Dickens fan). I have twice looked into reading LCL but both times not made it past the first few pages. I guess it goes to show that not everyone reads the most 'obvious' ones first.

>5 arukiyomi: Ah, but there are 649 books I have not yet read! I'd hate to get near the end and be left with only Beckett and Bernhard.

>6 M1nks: I really think Lady Chatterley's Lover works much better as an audiobook, as I too could not through a paper copy on the first attempt many years ago. (Or maybe one needs to have matured, both in years and in reading -- to have read widely enough to get past the "language" barrier?). In any case, I enjoyed it MUCH more than I thought I would!

657. (finished 5/29/15) The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, narrated by Wanda McCaddon, pub. 1860



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} reworks elements of George Eliot's own history into a study of childhood and of how a woman's identity is shaped and constrained by circumstance.... it stresses the unpredictability of family inheritance.... and explores the competing stories of continuity and change."

ETA: I am not commenting on the audio narration (which was quite good) because I read more of it as an ebook than an audiobook.

~~~There are probably spoilers below~~~

Set in a provincial England town in the early 19th century, The Mill on the Floss depicts the fortunes and misfortunes of the Tulliver family. The father is the fourth(or fifth?) owner of a Mill earning a decent living for himself and his family. The mother is from a wealthier town family. Tom, the older child is a typical boy, growing into an upright, hardworking man. And then there is Maggie.

Maggie Tulliver is a delightful protagonist -- vivacious, bright, willful, loving, and dutiful. It is hard not to fall in love with a character that passionately devours books and attempts to control her temper by abusing a doll in the stead of whomever has upset her. She is all too human -- generally a good person, but full of internal struggles to behave in accord with society standards and to determine which is the "right" thing to do from competing ideas of "right".

The book is almost composed of two story arcs. The first is of Tom & Maggie's idyllic childhood and troublesome coming of age. The troubles begin when the children are in their early teens. Due to Mr. Tulliver's tendency for passion to get the better of his commonsense, the family is ruined. The devastating financial and personal loss strike down Mr. Tulliver in a debilitating illness. Tom, a young man, leaves school to work and earn money to pay off the family debts while Maggie is kept miserably at home with her mostly insensible father and grieving mother. With her father's illness, Maggie has lost the only person that understood her and made her feel loved. Her other and brother love her, but it is a grudging love, mixed with disapproval of her headstrong, impetuous nature. Against her better judgement, Maggie concedes to renewing a friendship with Philip Wakem, a childhood schoolmate of Tom's and the son of the man the Tulliver's hold responsible for their ruin. Maggie is torn between her desire and the love of her family -- between renouncing her own happiness or betraying her family's trust.

The second story arc begins after some years have passed. Tom diligently through much work and sacrifice has rescued the family from debt while Maggie, determined to not be dependent on her family for her keep, has been working elsewhere as a school teacher. She has returned home for a rest before looking for a new position and is spending a month with her cousin Lucy. Lucy is an ideal young woman -- blond, beautiful, well-off, and sweet-tempered. She is determined to provide her beloved cousin with all the rest and culture her wealthy family can afford, mostly provided by her soon-to-be finance Stephen and his good friend Philip. After many years of self-sacrifice and repressing of her passionate nature, Maggie is torn between her desires and love for her family -- the choice between ruining her own life or destroying her family's newly refurbished reputation.

While thoroughly enjoyable, this is not my favorite work by Eliot. As stated above, Maggie is a brilliant character, but the novel hinges on Maggie and Tom. And Tom is not fully realized -- even in the components of the story told from his point of view the author is not able to convey his worldview. It's as if the author never understood what made him tick, so therefore the reader cannot either. The inability to understand Tom undermines the second half of the book and Maggie's actions, while true to her character, are not presented as the compelling, the only possible course of action. Thus the final moments of the book, for me, were more "wth?" than "oh no!".

Yes that's my view (on not just reading the ones I think I'll enjoy the most, first). Now that I've gotten involved in the Goodreads Seasonal Challenge and with all of my book groups selecting books that I'm not familiar with I am happy that I'm not going to find that a problem. And the wonderful thing is that I'm reading books that I unexpectedly absolutely love.

658. (finished 6/11/15) Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, pub. 1915



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "One of the most well known and influential writers of his time.... His best known novel, Of Human Bondage, is squarely based on his own life. An Edwardian Bildungsroman.... Characterized by a leisurely pace and an episodic structure, the novel traces Philip Carey's history from childhood to young adulthood."

Orphaned at a young age, Philip is raised by his otherwise childless aunt and uncle. They are not good parents -- the uncle is cold and appears indifferent and the aunt is hesitantly affectionate. Philip's spends most of his life restless, searching for meaning and human connections. His life goes through phases -- boarding school, studies in Germany, a love affair at home, a business apprenticeship, studying painting in Paris, medical school, an unrequited love affair, extreme poverty, a department store job, and so on. With each phase, Philip is trying on a different way of being, a different approach to the world, growing into the ordinary adult that is most people's fate.

Although rather long, I was never bored with Philip and his restless nature. Maugham expertly captures the reader's sympathy for Philip and allows him to be a flawed, but not too flawed, character so even if he is clearly making the bad decisions, you want everything to work out for him in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the Paris phase -- the struggles with poverty and art in Paris as Philip learns techniques but also questions the role of talent and money in the making of an artist. It resonated with some of the views expressed in Woolf's A Room of One's Own.

659. (Finished 6/13/2015) Invisible by Paul Auster, pub. 2009

Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):


A smoothly-paced, quick read that plays with narrative voices and uses met-fictional devices to tell about the momentous events of 1967-8 that shaped Adam Walker's life.

hmmm... only 3.5 stars for Of Human Bondage. Good review, but I didn't spot anything that indicated that you didn't feel it deserved 4 or more. Any clues?

>12 arukiyomi: I suspect that if i had reviewed Of Human Bondage closer to reading it, it would have been 4 or even 4.5 stars. But when I went to write the review a month later, I could not remember the plot. I had a vague memory of the narrator having several distinct phases of his life, one as an artist in Paris. For the rest, I had to use wiki and read a handful of reviews to remind myself what the book was about. So the low rating, in this case, is because it didn't stick with me.

>13 ELiz_M: I had the same experience with Of Human Bondage. I enjoyed it a lot when I read it, but all I could tell you about it now is what the title implies. It's interesting that there are some books which seem to evaporate, while others stick with me for years, and looking back I can't understand why I only rated them three stars, etc. Is it the nature of the book itself, or is it the frame of mind we were in when we read it?

I've been thinking so much over the last few years about my retention of books. It is odd how some stick with me and some fade immediately. I also read Of Human Bondage a year or two ago and, yep, I remember just about nothing.

I went to my old thread and looked at what I read around Of Human Bondage and I remember almost everything from The Forsyte Saga and nothing of The French Lieutenant's Woman. I gave all three 4 stars!

>15 japaul22: I'm used to not remembering books a year after reading them, but a few weeks? :(

>14 StevenTX: In this case, given the agreement between three of us, I blame the book!

660. (finished 6/26/15) Independent People by Halldór Laxness, pub. 1935



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "In essence, this novel is a reclamation of Iceland's mythical past, an attempt to redefine the sense of nation and history through those most often ignored.... In hard, poetic, and often beautiful prose Laxness charts the struggles of Bjartur's growing family.... Laxness...is considered the undisputed master of Icelandic fiction."

Independent People is the story of Bjartur, a "proud, stubborn, brutal, and often idiotic" farmer in the early 20th Century. The novel begins with his taking ownership of land that he has finally been allowed to purchase. The opening chapters slowly develop the world in inhabited by Bjartur and his family with evocative descriptions of the land and the deprivation of the characters and doesn't get going until his wife commits a desperate act when left alone on the farm for several days. The novel unfolds more or less chronologically, depicting the hardships, calamities, and rare moment of peace of the one family's struggle to survive. It is an intriguing mixture of grim daily reality, philosophical discussion of momentous world events, poetry and myths, and familial relationships. It can be an intense read, but a very worthwhile one.

661. (finished 6/30/15) The Master by Colm Tóibín, pub. 2004



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is a strongly episodic work, depicting in vivid detail a series of self-contained scenes and events.... Tóibín imagines his way into James's consciousness by describing his dreams and memories.... and also seeks to to show how experience...transmuted itself into the stuff of James's fiction.... The Master finds a new way for biography and fiction to meet, and to transform each other."

The Master is Henry James and the novel depicts moments of his life from 1895's failure of Guy Domville to William James's 1899 visit to Henry's new home in Rye. Through the events taking place in contemporary time, the memories evoked, and the stories and novels James is writing, Tóibín builds a fascinating portrait of Henry James -- his childhood, his brilliant family members, and his relationship with Constance Fenimore Woolson. Of course it is a delight to read the comments the fictional James makes on other writers and thoughts on various books. Tóibín's prose is ornate, if not quite as ornate as that of James himself, is perfectly fitting with the subject and the period depicted. I found the portrayal and analysis of Alice James to be fascinating (and have added Alice James: A Biography to my wishlist). I am not sure how or why, but somehow the final chapter, largely dominated by William James, was excruciatingly boring. So boring that I am knocking a star off what otherwise would have been a 4-star book.

662. (finished 7/04/15) Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia, pub. 1997



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel is an exercise in documentary fiction or reportage inspired by an actual event that shook Argentine society at the time: the Buenos Aires bank robbery of September 1965.... Far from being a cold account of events, the story conjures up a bleak period that was moving ever deeper into violence and corruption."

The novel is very much written in a journalist style -- especially similar to the 24 hour news coverage of today with events being reported instantly, rightly or wrongly, with little analysis. The beginning chapters, covering the preparation and the robbery and fast-paced and exciting. But once the action is over, the style hampers the story -- plot's presentation as "eye-witness" accounts, "facts" that require supporting evidence and confirmation and later reversed, the storyline muddled by conflicting accounts, which is all done as impersonally as possible, is boring. At first it doesn't matter how many robbers are involved and who each of them is, but as the chase extends over five days, it really does matter and I didn't get it. I couldn't keep the characters straight because in the first hours of "reporting" two or more of the robbers had been confused by the eyewitnesses and I couldn't keep track of which actions were mis-assigned and which actions actually belonged to the respective individuals...

I think it would make an good movie,in the vein of Dog Day Afternoon, but while the writing technique is interesting, the novel is not.

663. (finished 7/06/15) Living by Henry Green , pub. 1929



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Partly because it is a story about expression and not simply about people's lives, Green took on the challenge of finding a prose style through which the difficulties of expression could be expressed. As a result, this is Green's most linguistically adventurous novel..."

Set in Birmingham in the years between the two world wars, the novel portrays the lives of the workers, managers, and owners of a factory, following two main story lines. Lily Gates is the daughter of a factory worker, and she and her father live with the father's best friend. While the two men work, Lily stays takes care of the house, the washing and mending, and the cooking. Unsatisfied with her lot, she seeks to escape through work (but is not allowed) or love. Dupret, the factory owner's son has had a life of privilege. Due to manipulation by factory managers and his father's failing health, he attempts to stretch his wings and take charge of reforming the factory.

I brought this book on vacation, hoping that, like Loving, it would be another charming novella and a perfect airplane read. But, due to the unusual linguistics it was slow going. The story is compelling, in this case in spite of the author's experimental technique. As someone who prefers to approach a book knowing as little as possible, I would say that the problem is that it wasn't experimental enough. The "linguistic adventurousness" was the omission of definite articles and conjunctions -- it wasn't different enough to make it clear that it needed a different mindset/approach. Instead, I found the lack of "the" and "a, an" to be irritating and it felt more like a mistake than a choice. Once I was used to the style though, the evocation of the time and the characters was well done.

664. (finished 7/07/15) The Twins by Tessa de Loo, pub. 1993



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Tessa de Loo gives voice to the millions of Germans standing convicted before the tribunal of history of passively acquiescing to genocide. With Anna, a picture of the ordinary citizen takes shape and it is very different from the one approved by history."

Twin sisters Anna and Lotte are born in Cologne, Germany in 1916. Even as young girls, Anna is brash running through the house and executing feats, while Lotte is quieter and more contemplative. Their mother dies of cancer and a few years later, when they are six, the father succumbs to tuberculosis. After the funreral, Anna is taken by their grandfather to the farm, while Lotte, suffering from a bout of TB leaves with her father's cousin, who lives in the Netherlands near an area known for TB convalescence. There is enmity between the two branches and due to maliciousness, time and world events, the twins loose contact.

Lotte grows up in a full, loving, chaotic household. Her Dutch father is a socialist and an inventor with a passion for music and an unhealthy need to possess his wife. Her Dutch mother is kind, loving, and somehow keeps the household together, despite her husband's whims. Meanwhile the word is changing and there are more and more regulations and rules about what Jewish citizens can and cannot do. Lotte's Jewish fiance is arrested and he is sent to Austria. Finally, a music lover and fried of the father arrives, seeking asylum. Against the mother's wishes, he agrees. The family hides a dozen Jewish friends and neighbors, inadvertently becoming part of an informal neighborhood network. When the war is finally over, Lotte marries one of the men hidden by the family.

Anna's life is harder and more eventful. The grandfather is a hard, miserly man and there is little affection in his dictatorship on the farm. Although Anna is a gifted student and shares a love of reading with her uncle, she is taken out of school at a young age to fulfill her duties as farm-hand and kitchen wench. One day, after a political argument, Anna is beaten severely, permanently damaging her. With the help of the local priest, Anna escapes to a school for domestics. She eventually is hired by an aristocratic German family and serves them throughout the war. As a young woman she is courted by a soldier. The only way for him to get enough leave to marry her is by enlisting in the officers training program and Anna marries a young SS Officer. But it is wartime and they never spend more than a few weeks together before he disappears.

Lotte, now in her seventies, has been given the gift of a Spa week by her children. In a relaxation room, she unthinkingly replies to German woman's question in her childhood German. The German, is delighted to meet a companion that speaks her language and insists they meet for tea. Of course, the German woman is Anna. And over the course of the next week the estranged sister meet many, many times for contentious, tense conversations, exchanging life-stories (summarized above) and unspoken assumptions.

The storyline is clever and the contrast and almost competition between the two women's lives is fascinating. It certainly explores post WWII points of view of which I would otherwise be ignorant. The writing is solid and it is a relatively "easy read". The author begins the novel with Lotte's point of view, but slowly brash Anna takes over the narrative. However, as an American citizen that does not intuitively know, has not lived the European viewpoint, I wished the story lines had been more balanced, that there was more of Lotte's opinion's and reactions to Anna's explanations and justifications.

665. (finished 7/09/15) The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, pub. 1990



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The Buddha of Suburbia often takes political correctness as its target as it follows its seventeen-year-old narrator, Karim Amir, growing up in London's suburbs in the 1970s..... The novel engages with many of the nebulous aspects of identity that are negotiated during the transition into adulthood."

Karim, the son of an Indian father and English mother, both declares and aspires to be completely English. He grows up in a working-class suburb, his father a civil servant drudge, his mother salesclerk, and he is in love with Charlie, the most popular boy at school. All this changes when Charlie's mother, Eva, convinces Haroon (Karim's father) to give a talk about Eastern philosophy at her house. Haroon quickly adapts to his new role as a wise Buddha and begins an affair with Eva. Eva, a clever social climber, leverages her contacts into a flat in London for herself, Charlie, Haroon, and Karim.

The new environment allows Karim and those close to him to try out different identities -- South London's poor neighborhoods where his childhood friend grapples with racial violence, political awakening and her father's turn to tradition in the matter of marriage, central London where Charlie dives into the Punk scene, transforming into a star and Karim accepts a theater role that leads to his inclusion into a radical theater group. Meanwhile Eva is contact by contact working her way into the orbit of the wealthy intelligentsia and even wealthier Kensington homes.

The novel is delightful, with a dozen or so characters that both represent and contradict different classes, cultures, and political views, and whose stories often take unexpected turns. And then there is the London of the 1970s, almost a character in its own right. The story is episodic, with characters fading in and out of importance, but the constant is Karim's complicated growth and Kureishi's humorous presentation.

666. (finished 7/14/15) World's End by T. C. Boyle, pub. 1987



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...a grand symphony of themes, motifs, and variations.... In World's End, Boyle tackles three hundred years of history and myth in America, and does it with verbal sleight of hand and wickedly subversive wit. It is a breathtaking feat of prose."

I am not sure I can even begin to summarize this sprawling novel with the intertwined fates of four families. over 300 years.

The timelines:
-- the settling of New Amsterdam in the 1700s
-- the burgeoning civil-rights movement of 1949
-- the hippies counter-culture of the 1960s.

The families:
-- the all-time underdogs: Harmanus, Jeremias, Wouter Van Brunt (1700s), Truman Van Brunt (1949), Walter Van Brunt (1960s)
-- the privileged class: Oloffe Stephanus Van Wart, Rombout Van Wart (1700s), Rombout and Depeyster Van Wart Van Wart (1949), Depeyster Van Wart Van Wart (1960s)
-- the native-americans: Sachoes, Mohonk, Jeremy Mohonk (1700s), Jeremy Mohonk - father (1949), Jeremy Mohonk - his son (1960s)
-- the intelligentsia outsiders: Hackallah and Cadwaller Crane (1700s), Peletiah Crane (1949), Tom Crane (1960s)

The story jumps back and forth in time, weaving the various story-lines together by the themes of father-son relationships, betrayal, and the inevitable and cyclical nature of history. The stories are powerfully told, but there is so much of it, so densely, and it is an odd mixture of historical fiction with a dash of magical realism, that it is difficult to comprehend the novel as a whole. There was a big lead-up to the denouement, but I either missed or misunderstood the actual denouement. This is a book that needs to be read slowly, while taking notes (at least until you've gotten the characters straight). I did not take notes, or reference the provided characters list often enough, to my detriment.

667. (finished 7/21/15) The Busconductor Hines by James Kelman, pub. 1984



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{Kelman's} funniest and most enjoyable book.... The episodic events of the novel develop through an innovatively woven mix of idiomatic and colloquial registers...moving fluidly between a first-person narration and third person description."

Robert Hines, the titular character, is barely scrapping by, trying to make ends meet and provide a slightly better life foe his wife and young son. in Hines, Kelman brilliantly devised a unique voice depicting the life of a segment of the population not often heard. The protagonist is wonderfully, weirdly real. One the one hand, you want to shake him and tell him to get his act together and on the other there are perfectly, subtly told moments of love and tenderness, and the grinding inescapable near-poverty. He is part intelligent, defiant youth and part traditional family man with the aversion to authority more often than not self-defeating.

An excellent debut and enjoyable, but nowhere near as brilliant as How Late it Was, How Late. I also accidentally "ruined" this novel for myself by concurrently listening to Carry Me Down, which I found to be too similar & I have now confused the two books.

668. (finished 7/26/15) Carry Me Down by M. J. Hyland and narrated by Gerard Doyle, pub. 2006



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{The} narrative perspective forces M. J. Hyland to work from a limited vocabulary, giving a clarity of tone and avoiding overt stylization.... Hyland characterizes John as a limited and internalizing young boy on the verge of a skewed adolescence, but he gradually becomes a tool used to explore a wide range of forces beyond his understanding."

Like The Busconductor Hines this is a story of a two-parent-one-son family living in grinding near-poverty. However, this family is in Ireland and the story is told by the son.

John Egan is an exceptionally tall 11 year-old mama's boy. On the verge of physical puberty, with occasional voice cracks and physically the size of a full-grown man, he is still emotionally and chronologically a child. A very bright boy, he is obsessed with the Book of Guinness Records, and is convinced he will one day be famous and in it. The family lives with John Egan's grandmother, as his father is out of work and for the past threes has dedicated his time to ostensibly studying for entrance exams. The precarious family harmony is disturbed when John begins upset by the realization that his family is lying to each other, becomes convinced he is a "human lie detector", setting off a horrifying and near disastrous chain of events.

The story is expertly told through John's point of view, with enough hints in the words of the adults to whom he speaks, to allow the reader to question his reliability and his perceived reality. Hyland also cleverly has John Egan research lie detection and explain, with enough believability how he is able to detect lies, to leave the reader wondering how unreliable of a narrator he is.

Someone in Club Read mentioned being especially sensitive to repetition in audio books. I must agree, John's incessant repetition of phrases and persistence in asking "why" was unpleasant. I would have enjoyed this book much more in a paper edition.

669. (finished 7/29/15) Broken April by Ismail Kadare, pub. 1980



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Written in extraordinary simplicity and elegance, this is a haunting and haunted tale. The space between life and death that the novel maps out is given a dreamlike articulation that is infused with the spirit of Homer, Dante, and Kafka."

The novel begins mid-March with a young man, Gjorg, lying in ambush. As the chapter progress, we learn about the Kanun, the ancient code that governs every aspect of the lives of the remote Albanian mountain villages. Gjorg's family has been involved in a 70-year-old feud with the neighbors. He has killed the man that killed his older brother and now, after the 30-day truce is over, he will in turn be hunted and killed. The second storyline is that of a writer, Bessian, and his new bride, Diana. An urban intellectual, he is awed by the grand vision of the Kanun and has taken advantage of the honeymoon journey to travel in to the mountains to learn more about it form the local ruler that administrate the code. At a village inn, Diana and Gjorg exchange mesmerized glances and from that moment on, the abstract laws that fascinate her husband become concrete and personal as she realizes the devastating impact on the individuals.

It is a fascinating look at the ancient customs of a remote area of Albania that had been preserved into the early 20th century, even as it hints of its decline. The novel is set in between the World Wars, around the time the Kanun, passed down through the generations orally, was published for the first time.

This short novel is beautifully told and well-structured. The strong opening chapter pulls the reader into Gjorg's world, creating sympathy for him and strict world he must inhibit. Kadare introduces the outside gaze, through the writer and his wife, in order to explain to the reader facts of life that Gjorg knows instinctively (so the necessary exposition has a logical reason), as well as provide for encounters with different levels of society -- from the "prince" of the region, the steward of the blood, a famous interpreter of the Kanun, to various inn-keepers and villagers. Finally that brief, almost magical connection between Gjorg and Diana compels the novel forward to the fated conclusion.

>26 ELiz_M: This sounds very interesting indeed. The name of the author sounded familiar to me but I've never read anything by him. Perhaps it is because his name has been suggested as deserving of a Nobel Prize for Literature.

>27 gypsysmom: It was also relatively short, and available as an ebook through my library!

Because I'm impressed by the number of books from the list you've read, I notice that you've ripped yourself off and used number 664 twice. You're actually at 669. And with that -- well done!

>29 Nickelini: ...used number 664 twice. Number 664 was The Twins. Makes sense to me.

>29 Nickelini: Nice catch. Now can you help me sort out where I got off between my LT threads and Arukiyomi's spreadsheet? ;)

>30 StevenTX: Ha!

Hmmmm, the new numbering gives World's End 666. Much more appropriate than The Busconductor Hines.

670. (finished 8/01/15) The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene and narrated by Joseph Porter, pub. 1948

Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Even though I felt no affinity with the narrator, it is a brilliant depiction of the adage "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

one of my favourite novels this one...

>33 arukiyomi: Greene is a masterful writer!

671. (finished 8/01/15) The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing , pub. 1950



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is the first publication of a major literary figure, an angry denunciation of the hypocrisies of the colonial power known to Lessing from her youth in southern Africa, and a dissection of colonial mentality and the deformation it performs on both the colonizer and the colonized."

This brief novel tells the story of Mary Turner and her inevitable, unhappy fate. Mary was born in southern Africa to an unhappy, unsuccessful British couple -- her father a drunkard and her mother an angry, bitter woman. Mary managed to grow up to be, in her own way, relatively successful and happy young woman. As a young, single working woman in a large town, she was able to lead a carefree life -- an efficient and hard worker, her boss relied on her, as one of the older women in the single ladies rooming house, the girls poured out their troubles to her, as a pretty single women she was a carefree and fun date with an active social life. But this kind of life acceptable to a woman of her thirties cannot last into one's thirties and beyond. After overhearing an acquaintance's criticism of her odd way of life, Mary is determined to get married.

She marries the first man that comes along, Dick Turner, and her life is utterly changed. Dick returns with Mary to his rural, struggling farm. Mary's efficiency and energy soon exhaust the available farm work a white woman is able to do, her first encounter with the nearest neighbors does not go well and Mary is unwilling, and unable, to participate in what limited social events there are. Thus, Mary is alone and isolated, unprepared for the grinding poverty of the farm and completely incapable of "normal" relations with her husband, and more troubling, with the African laborers. Mary has had no experience with the "correct" interaction with Africans, and her fear of them and of herself leads to a cruel, racist despotism over the house servants. But as the years pass and Mary (and Dick) deteriorate, Mary's cruel is tempered with dependence on her servant, leading to disregard of color lines that is more "offensive" than her cruelty.

Lessing's writing is quite powerful. The descriptions of the land and the farm are beautiful and an interesting contrast to the awfulness of the characters and the story. Like a mystery novel, it begins with the end of the story -- Mary's murder, and then backtracks to show the events leading up to Mary's unhappy end. It is a fascinating, and unsettling, portrait of the complexities of the colonial efforts in southern Africa.

672. (finished 8/15/15) Seize the Day by Saul Bellow, narrated by Grover Gardner, pub. 1956 (removed for the 2008 edition)

Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



A solidly written novel, perfectly depicting the mundane failure of an ordinary middle-aged man that I would have enjoyed more in print form.

673. (finished 8/23/15) Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov, pub. 1859



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "One of the world's great novels, Oblomov came to be seen as the definitive representation of the lethargic and myopic Russian aristocracy of the nineteenth century.... A bittersweet tragicomedy, it centers on one of the most charming but ineffectual protagonists in literature. Oblomov is a brilliant and unusual novel about wasted opportunity..."

As one can guess from the above description, this is not an action-packed novel. Oblomov famously does not even have the energy to bother getting up and dressed and spends the first 50 pages or so in bed. But it would be a simplification to characterize him as just "lazy". Oblomov has grand ideas, and a desire to perfect his plans before implementation. But his ideas are also so grand, that he becomes overwhelmed, frozen in inaction unable to figure out how to begin. It is better, it is easier, to not begin, to not make compromises.

Oblomov is a wealthy landowner, raised in luxury with never the need to do anything for himself. Oblomov was sent to school in a neighboring village where he became friends with a boy of German, industrious ancestry, Stoltz. Stoltz provides the counterbalance of Oblomov -- he is all action and busyness, appearing to embody one who "lives to work". Stoltz has become a successful, rich, and busy man and now only has time for brief appearances in Oblomov's life, staying just long enough to shake him up a bit, to fix whatever difficulties Oblomov has gotten into, but not long enough to effect any real change in Oblomov.

The other major character is Olga, a young, intelligent, and naive acquaintance of Stoltz. Stoltz arranges their introduction at one of Oblomov's a rare social outings and Olga, fascinated by Stoltz's descriptions of his good-hearted, passive friend is determined to remake Oblomov. Her persistent, gentle prodding succeeds in excavating a sense of purpose in Oblomov. Through her manipulation he begins to read again (she asks him to "explain" various texts to her) and exercise (she arranges meetings and walks that take him outdoors). But as much as Oblomov enjoys her company and attention, he is aware that Olga's love is not for him, but rather for an ideal that she has projected onto him. Eventually the project to make a new man of Oblomov exhausts her resources.

The final section of the book finds Oblomov regressing back to the passivity of his childhood, living an indolent life in reduced circumstances, allowing "friends" to take advantage of him and his wealth in exchange for a quiet, uneventful life.

Although as times the pace was infuriating (reading about Oblomov's ease of life at one of the busiest month at work was not enjoyable), the novel lushly wonderful at times. The description of Oblomov's time with Olga is beautiful. And in the end it is hard to entirely find fault with Oblomov's passivity -- after all isn't a quiet life where one is not obligated to perform meaningless paper-pushing tasks or work or spend hours at social events consumed with idle gossip and empty chit-chat something we are striving for? I have to think that, in the end, Oblomov doesn't have it too bad -- his trustworthy, hard-working friend is managing his estate and financial affairs and he has found a companion that adores him, cooks excellent meals, and takes care of his every comfort. When I am tired from the "rat-race" his idyllic life not much different than the one I imagine I would lead if I won $10 million in the lottery.

your wonderful review made me dig out mine from 2008 (http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?p=150). Seems ironic that you read it during a busy period at work (also an extremely stressful and busy time for me in the office)!

>38 arukiyomi: Yes, the timing could have been better. I had a mini-rant in a goodreads group about how He could stay in bed all day while I worked 27 hours in two days.... I eventually had to put it down until I was less resentful.

674. (finished 8/30/15) The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz, pub. 1934



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Bruno Schulz reworks memories of his childhood in Drohobycz into a series of labyrinthine narratives that bring together the captivatingly prosaic and the fancifully absurd.... The lengthy and convoluted 'lectures' delivered by his mentally wandering father...appear to anticipate many of the concerns of postmodernism.... Schultz was influenced by Surrealism and Expressionism ans as such can rightly be considered along writers such as Gogol and Kafka."

This cycle of short stories is extraordinary. Schultz is one of the most imaginative and awe-inspiring writers I have ever read. In his stories he perfectly and beautifully captures the reality of a childhood hot summer day and then in utter sincerity, sometimes in the same story, segues into an unreality that is more vivid and captivating than the most strongly remembered dream. And like a dream, I cannot summarize a single story or the collection as a whole as it will only trivialize the work, the way dreams, so vivid and logical to the dreamer, are mundane and nonsensical when retold.

One story has a creepy and horrific description of a tramp encountered by the young narrator. Another concluded with a particularly lovely image of a silent house:

"The rooms, empty and neglected, did not approve of him, the furniture and the walls watched him in silent criticism...

...he then walked toward the door slowly, resignedly, hanging his head, while someone else, someone forever turning his back, walked at the same pace in the opposite direction into the depths of the mirror, through the row of empty rooms which did not exist."

Many stories depict devolving images of the father, as he transforms, disappears, or dies fantastically. One story, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass I found especially intriguing. It's particular unreality reminded me very strongly, although without any rhyme or reason as they are not similar in tone only by an ephemeral suggestion, of Murakami's "Town of Cats". I loved the concept and opening scenes and then it goes odd.

And, of course, Schultz himself best describes the experience of reading these stories:
"...we listened to one tale or revelation after another. There were times when the plot spun through these stories jumped out of the narrative frame and stepped among us, live and hungry for prey, and tangled up in the perilous whorl. Sudden recognitions, unexpected disclosures, an improbable encounter pushed their way into our private lives. We lost the ground beneath our feet, placed in jeopardy by contingencies we ourselves had unleashed."

Ooh, I had spotted that Schulz book as potentially interesting, sounds like I should really go pick it up then.

>41 hdcanis: You might like it -- it is similar to Garden, Ashes in the beauty of language and themes, but is both more lucid and more vivid.

I loved this collection. You need to be in the right 'mood' for it, but when you are... After finishing I bought a copy for my own library.

>43 M1nks: Exactly! I had heard enough about this title to guess that I would want to own it. Luckily it showed up at my favorite treasure-hunting used bookstore a while back. :)

675. (finished 9/3/15) The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda, pub. 2000



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Set in the hinterlands of the Eastern Cape, it interweaves the astonishing events of the Xhosa people's 19th century independence revolts with an ambivalent perspective on the new South Africa.... The enigmatic ending places this novel in that tradition of early post-apartheid novels...which address a move from the past to an uncertain future..."

Camagu spent most of his life in exile, studying and working in America. He returned to South Africa, but as he has few connections is unable to find work. Set to return to America, he encounters a beautiful woman and impulsively following his lust ends up in a small village. As a newcomer to the village, Camagu is able to make friends with both factions of a family in a generations-old feud. The feud stems from the 1800s when a young woman attained great status as a prophetess, claiming that the ancestors would help them defeat the English colonizers if they would sacrifice all their cattle and burn all of their crops. The new religion divided villages and families. In this case one twin brother became a fervent believer while the other, out of necessity, took side with British sympathizers.

The story of these two timelines are woven together in a way that is for me reminiscent of World's End. Both stories tell of a conflict over generations and in both stories, many names are repeated, so occasionally it is difficult to remember which incidents belong to which time-period. Overall, The Heart of Redness was less confusing and less complex than Boyle's novel. That is not to say the characters are simple and the issues are clear-cut. I was impressed by the nuances shown and although the author clearly favored one of the modern-day factions, the opposing side is also shown favorably. It is an intriguing book and a good read.

676. (finished 9/09/15) Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, pub. 1874



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Hardy here first applies the name 'Wessex' to the topographical and imaginative landscape where his greatest novels are set.... Plot and characters are strongly rather than subtly drawn, but the wild presence of the natural and cultural background is striking..."

Gabriel Oak, a shepard's son, has scraped enough money together to buy a farm. An odd, serious man he works hard and has no time for tom-foolery. His equilibrium is upset with the arrival of a young woman on a neighboring farm. He quickly falls in love with the spirited young lady and proposes to her. She quickly and resoundly rejects him. Months later, through a reversal of fortunes Gabriel encounters the headstrong Bathsheba again. Still in love, he silently pledges himself to looking after her interests. Meanwhile, Bathsheba's beauty and independent spirit garners much admiration, resulting in a love pentagon. (Character A & Character C love Character B who loves Character D who "loves" Character E). Much angst and some tragedy ensues.

This is the first Hardy novel I have enjoyed reading. Bathsheba is a wonderfully vivid character, even more sympathetic than Eliot's Maggie Tulliver (except for the moment when she expressed a very un-modern, maddening sentiment: "There is one position worse than that of being found dead in your husband's house from his ill usage, and that is, to be found alive through having gone away to the house of someone else."). Of course there are some gorgeous descriptive passages -- a fire that threatens an entire farm and the laborers efforts to quench it, a rainstorm in the graveyard. I hadn't realized Hardy could be funny -- I found the swordsmanship display highly entertaining. Also brilliant is a literal fight over a dead body. And, most unexpectedly, it has a happy ending. Well, I did have a discussion in a book group about whether it is a happy ending. It's not a horrific and depressing ending.

All in all, it is a captivating book with plenty of pastoral descriptions, some fascinating characters (and some caricatures), a fair amount of fainting, and a plot that never quite goes where expected.

677. (finished 9/12/15) Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, pub. 1976



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is Manuel Puig's most acclaimed novel and also the most original despite the simplicity of its approach.... The novel...forms a fascinating intersection between the question of 'compromise'...and the prerogatives of fantasy and imagination."

Primarily set in an Argentine prison, the novel portrays the relationship between two cellmates -- Molina, a homosexual imprisoned for corruption of a minor, and Valentin, a member of a revolutionary group fighting to overthrow the government. The two men, over the course of a month of conversation and film synopses (told by Molina to distract the two of them from the tedium interspersed with torture that is their daily life), the to men forge a strong and intimate bond.

The novel is unique in that it is written very much like a screenplay -- the majority of the story is told through dialogue. Interspersed with the dialogue are mysterious footnotes that are un-attributable to an editor/translator or frame story. Even more subversive is that the footnotes themselves are a mix of actual psychological theory and fictional theories.

Many years ago I had read a script adapted for the stage and was fascinated with it. As a consequence, the full length novel was less revolutionary and engaging. The extra material, instead of deepening my knowledge of the characters, interrupted the flow of the story and prevented me from connecting. The footnotes, frankly, were a complete bore (I left academia a long time ago and am not interested/able to understand its language). Finally, the film plots undermined the frame story. They were so much more interesting and vivid than Molina/Valentin that I never thought about their relevance and how they mirrored the changing relationship between the two men.

This is a novel that, while I can admire its uniqueness and post-modern structure, ultimately I wasn't engaged in it.

678. (finished 9/16/15) Black Box by Amos Oz, pub. 1987



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Oz uses the intersection between his characters...to open up a discourse on his country's modern history, politics, and religious splinterings.... Oz gives an honest and often wry account of the conflicts inherent in being an Israeli."

An epistolary novel, it opens with a letter, after many years without contact, from Ilana to Alec about their son's growing delinquency and imminent expulsion from school. Alec, a war hero and professor in religious studies at a university in Chicago, prefers to throw money at the problem. Ilana's second husband, a deeply religious Jew from Algeria and France, uses his working class contacts to get the son, Boaz, out of trouble. As the situation with Boaz deteriorates, the letters accumulate -- Alec to his lawyer, Ilana and then Michael to Alec, Boaz to Michael, Ilana's sister to Ilana -- and the dissolution of Ilana and Alec's marriage is analyzed while new conflicts and rivalries are created.

For the most part, it is an interesting novel. The style of the letters is fairly distinct for each of the characters. But I suspect I missed much of the subtext -- quickly growing exasperated with Alec for even bothering to respond to Michael & Ilana's demands. And because the entire story is in letters, purportedly crafted to a particular character to read, this reader never understood the character's motivations. Also, I assume the three main characters are also stand-ins for different factions within Israel, but I am not familiar enough with the culture/politics for it to strike a cord. Oz's skill at writing is clearly visible, even if the characterization is not.

679. (finished 9/19/2015) Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley, narrated by Simon Vance, pub. 1846 (removed for the 2008 edition)

Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



It is an odd, amusing novel with some quite good set pieces. It might have been more enjoyable if I had been more familiar with the particular time/people depicted.

680. (finished 9/30/15) The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell, pub. 1973



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel is a mosaic of mid-Victorian languages in dispute. The languages of belief, of rationalist skepticism, and quite bad poetry embody new (and old) perceptions.... The anti-imperialist uprising provokes debates about occupation of countries that are as relevant now as then."

The novel enlarges on a real event, the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and Farrell had done quite a bit of research and reviewing primary sources of those times. It is a fascinating portrait of a different mindset.

The point of view alternates between many characters. Most often, we see the world through the eyes of the Collector, "the foremost Indian Administrative Service officer in charge of revenue collection and administration of a district in India" for "the Company". There is Fleury, a sensitive, poetical young man newly arrived in India with his older, widowed sister Miriam. Fleury is much taken with Louise and becomes circumstantial friends with her military brother Harry. To Louisa's dismay, Harry becomes increasingly attracted to Lucy, a "fallen women". Louise and Harry are the children of Dr. Dunstaple. As the siege continues and the British cantonment is seized by cholera, Dr. Dunstaple, severely overworked and stress escalates his professional differences with Dr. McNab, a younger more modern doctor in the district. Also becoming unhinged at a more accelerated rate is Padre, the priest that is convinced that the British of Krishnapur are being punished for Fleury's disbelief/sins/heresies. And finally there is the district Magistrate, Mr. Willoughby, a cynical man that has lost interest in humans.

The lead up to the siege alternates between some lovely passages and some boring plotting designed to introduce the major characters. But once the siege begin, it is thoroughly engrossing. Farrell is brilliant at portraying the British "stiff-upper-lip" mentality in decaying circumstances and how class divisions and gender roles are maintained even in the direst circumstances. He unflinchingly describes less pleasant aspects (the smells of the individuals as water becomes scare and soap nonexistent, the smells of the wounded and dying in the makeshift hospital, the smells of the dead animals, too numerous for vultures to dispose of). There are some subtle, ingenuous images that also offer comment on British "civilization" -- huge statues of Plato and Socrates are pried off one of the buildings to provide shelter for the men servicing the canons. There are many moments of dark humor, wry irony, bravery, and ingenuity. But what is most disturbing, and probably the point of the book, is the utter lack of Indians. AS a novel about the decline of the British rule in India, told from the perspective of the British citizens, it is significant that only one Indian citizen has a name -- Hari, a prince's son that was educated in England. The rest of the Indians, even those that are crucial in the assisting the British's defiance of the sepoys -- both in battle and as servants, are unnamed, invisible, beneath the notice of the narrators.

In retrospect, I read this novel too quickly, compelled to discover "what happens" that i missed many of the subtleties. I just might have to re-read this one someday.

>49 ELiz_M: - I started Antic Hay but my cat threw up on it so I am not sure I will finish anytime soon!

>51 Yells: Oh my! That would put an end to that book, wouldn't it!

great review of Seige

>51 Yells: Oh dear! Maybe try it in audio and hope the cat doesn't throw up on your headphones? I am finding that humor/satire works better for me in audio.

>53 arukiyomi: Thanks!

>51 Yells: Everyone's a critic.

I loved Antic Hay, but reading it did make me feel a bit dense - I seem to recall shed-loads of classical culture references.

>55 Cliff-Rhu-Rhubarb: Sometimes that can be an advantage of audio -- by necessity one must go with the flow. I am not sure if I caught that there were classical culture references....

681. (finished 10/10/15) Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry and narrated by John Lee, pub. 1947



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Lowry's work is more significant for its powerful symbolism and ornate prose style than for its characterization. The setting of the festival of the Day of the Dead...also suggests the wider eruptions of a culture in crisis -- the novel is set in 1938 and was written during WWII...."

Apparently a difficult read no matter what the medium, this is the first audio book where I was compelled to read chapter summaries as I went along.

Set in Mexico on Nov. 2, 1938, it depicts one fateful day for Geoffrey Firmin, the alcoholic ex-British consul, and it is a depiction of alcoholism in its extreme Leaving-Las-Vegas end-state. On this fateful day, his ex(?)-wife Yvonne, who left him many months previously, has returned. Also visiting is his half-brother Hugh. There is a horseback ride, drinks with the neighbor, a visit to the festival, a bus trip to a nearby town, a bullfight, bathing, a meal at a cantina, a ferocious thunderstorm. That is about as much of the plot that is clear, the rest is lost in stream-of-consciousness narrations.

The prose is dense, and in some ways might be easier to take in through audio -- just allowing the befuddled thoughts, hallucinations, abrupt switches between narrators to drift by. There are some marvelous set pieces; I particularly enjoyed "the infernal machine" episode. I suspect the style is more beautiful and less frustrating read aloud. But with audio it is MUCH harder to follow as the book does appear to set off internal monologues in italics and the other miscellaneous bits and pieces (menus, posters, brochures) are delineated in the visual layout.

It is an unusual book and I am glad to have experienced it....but. I am unsure what, if anything, I have missed, if all the purported symbolism would enhance my understanding or just further cloud the alcoholic haze.

I found this a very tough read. In my review I said it was like "Graham Greene meets Garcia Marquez" and that "you’ll know that Lowry is a very clever writer but you’ll have a hard time putting your finger on why." I'm pretty sure I still stand by those comments. I'm not looking forward to Dark is the Grave Wherein my Friend is Laid.

However, it has one of the best last lines of any novel.

>58 arukiyomi: I can see those comparisons.

682. (finished 10/11/15) The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, pub. 1958



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The Leopard struck a new chord, as it deliberately ignored the Italian neorealist narrative tradition, both stylistically and thematically.... The Leopard portrays the melancholy of {the death of the aristocracy...which is being supplanted by the bourgeoisie."

Set in Sicily, from 1850 to 1910, The Leopard portrays the decline of the aristocracy, as seen mostly through the eyes of Fabrizio Corbera, the last Prince of Salina. The novel begins on the day that Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification, lands on the Sicilian coast. Over the course of the novel, Prince Fabrizio ruminates on the unchanging fate of Sicily, and island that has been overrun by various forces for hundreds of years the beautiful and harsh environments that shapes the character of the people; and the inevitable transfer of power to the increasingly wealthy, yet unrefined, middle classes.

The language is florid and lush and the descriptions of the landscape and the architecture and interiors is stunning; I wished I had watched the movie instead. Personally, I was not that interested in the politics and the decline of the family. The author put such a heavy emphasis on it's inevitability that there was little dramatic tension -- you night as well mourn fall turning into winter.

683. (finished 10/16/15) Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautreamont , pub. 1869



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{it} is now recognized as one of the earliest and most unsettling works of Surrealist fiction.... This is a wild, hallucinatory poetic, and disturbing work -- radical not only for its stylistic innovation, but also its blasphemous content."

Maldoror calls itself a "prose poem" and as such is full of vivid, lurid, imagery loosely strung together to form vignettes. There are some horrific moments described with great beauty:

"He bends down and applies his salivated tongue to that angelic cheek despite the imploring glances of his victim. For several moments he passes his tongue over that cheek. Oh! Look! Look there! The pink and white cheek has turned black as coal! It exhales a miasma of putrefaction. This is gangrene, no further room for doubt. The gnawing disease extends over the whole face and from there continues its ravages until soon the whole body is reduced to a great loathsome wound. Maldoror himself appalled (for he did not realize his tongue contained so virulent a poison) snatches up the lamp and flees from the church."

"Whoever has not witnessed the foundering of a ship in the midst of a hurricane while the brilliance of lighting alternates with the most profound darkness and the souls on board are overcome with that despair you know so well, knows nothing of the tragedy of life. Finally a great universal shriek of agony escapes from within the vessel, while the sea redoubles its terrible attacks. Human strength giving itself up has inspired that cry. Each man enfolds himself in the garment of resignation and commits his soul into the hands of God."

"She wanders on like a poplar leaf borne upon a whirlwind of unconscious associations, she, her youth, her illusions and her former happiness remembered now through the mists of a ruined mind."

I often found the language difficult to focus on and quickly discovered that it helped if I mouthed the words as I read. It's a good thing I live in NYC where people mumbling to themselves on the subway is unremarkable.

I wish I knew a little more about the author and the composition of the work. While I found the first three cantos basely beautiful and sickly enthralling, about halfway through it evolved from depicting actions/scenes and became more philosophical and introspective in ways that I found, well, dull.

nice reviews, I like seeing why its included in the list, I've just ordered 'The Twins' based on your post.

Interesting to read aboutles Chants de malador, which sounds something quite unique for the time it was written.

It was a good job that you were only mouthing the words when reading them on the subway. You might have got some reaction had you read the poetry aloud.

>62 Jan_1: Thank you! I hope you enjoy The Twins when you get to it.

>63 baswood: Ha! Yeah, there were definitely some passages that many people might find offensive and should not be read aloud in a public space.

684. (finished 10/21/15) The Successor by Ismail Kadare, pub. 2003



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The mystery of {the death of Mehmet Shehu, 'The Successor',} is accompanied for most Albanians by a long-bred fear of inquiry.... In binding political fear with geographic isolation, Kadare brings his Albanian audience to the fore."

(The blurb in the book is almost entirely plot summary. Basically, this book is included because it was published the year Kadare won the International Man Booker Prize, which the 1001-book states was awarded to this novel).

I read this book right after reading The Leopard and it was a refreshing antidote to Lampadusa's ornateness. Kadare's novel is a variation of historical fiction -- it is a retelling of the very real events surrounding the death of Mehmet Shehu. But the novel abstracts the events by only using the titles 'The Successor' and 'The Guide', never referring to either by name. It also deviates from historical fiction in its structure; each chapter is narrated by a different character tangentially involved in the death -- the Successor's daughter, Suzanne, the pathologist ordered to perform the autopsy, the architect that recently renovated the house of the Successor and so on.

The prose is sparse and almost matter-of-fact. Kadare seems to write with a distance -- I don't connect with his characters, but I enjoy his books because the settings are so unknown and fascinating (Albania!) and because every once in a while, he evokes a stunning, perfect image.

685. (finished 10/25/15) London Fields by Martin Amis narrated by Steven Pacey, pub. 1989



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is a darkly ironic inversion of the whodunit plot.... literal evocations of the end of the world are set within an ambivalent fear of the death of culture itself.... {The} uncertainty seems generally characteristic of the novel, as it delves unflinchingly into the darker side of urban life without ever reconciling itself to anything so obvious as critique."

Martin Amis is a brilliant writer and he never fails to disturb. The novel is narrated by an unsuccessful author who stumbles on a excellent story in a hole-in-the-wall London pub. The protagonist of his novel is Nicola Six, a young beautiful woman that knows the future, specifically she knows she is going to be murdered and by whom. As she manipulates the actions of Keith, a lower-class man that makes a living as a "cheat" and Guy, an upper-class man that escapes his privileged life (and his terrible, terrible child) by "slumming, goading them both into a murderous rage, she confesses all to our narrator.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The narration was excellent -- the voices for the different characters were distinct in both tone and pacing. I love the complexity that Amis builds into his novels, the layers of symbols/themes. The narrator is an American author and is staying in the apartment of (his foil) a successful British author. The low-class Keith has an angelic infant daughter and the upper-class Guy has a demonic son. Nicola tells Guy a sob story about a childhood friend, lost upon her return to war-torn country, that has Guy using his wealth and contacts to find Enola Gay and her little boy. Apparently there is even a lengthy passage that parodies The Rainbow. Although I guessed the twisted ending early on, it was still a fantastic, suspenseful read.

686. (finished 10/26/15) The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin, pub. 1760



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Considered the greatest masterpiece of traditional Chinese fiction, this huge, largely autobiographical novel chronicles in detail the decay of an aristocratic family in 18th-Century Beijing. It is a Bildungsroman, a novel of sentiment, a repository for Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions,...and a mosaic of society at the height of the Qing dynasty.... The novel and especially its twelve main female characters have been widely featured in poetry, painting, a theme park, feature movies, television series, and computer games."

I am not equal to the task of summing up/reviewing the 2000+ pages that make up this long novel!

But to answer the most basic question: Should you read it? I say yes! (with caveats). I found it delightful and if you can allow yourself to read the surface story without feeling compelled to research and understand _every_single_reference/cultural_norm it is a lot of fun. For me, the novel was compulsively readable and I finished the last four volumes in about 3 weeks.

I made the mistake of thinking this was a "novel" in the way A Dance to the Music of Time is a single novel -- that the volumes were discreet chunks and so read volume 1 over a year ago. They are not; the second volume begins with chapter 27 and starts in the middle of an episode that was left as a cliffhanger in the last chapter of volume 1. Every chapter ends with something along the lines of "If you want to know what the next day held in store, you will have to read the following chapter." And the following chapter begins with something like "Our story recommences in Lady Wang's apartment the next day." It should have been irritating, but I found it amusing.

One of the other difficulties is, of course, the enormous cast of characters. I must confess that I cannot with any certainty list the twelve main female characters. The Penguin editions did have a family tree, but even so it wasn't as helpful as I needed it to be -- knowing how the girls were related to Bao-yu (mostly cousins) didn't help me understand the social differentiation in the variations of cousin. And furthermore, I easily lost track of which incidents/qualities were associated with which of the girls. In the end, I decided to just go for the ride and not worry too much about it. I can see how this type of novel would translate extremely well to TV -- it is episodic with a core cast of main characters and rotating, repeating minor roles. Further, establishing shots of the various houses and the physical features of the actors would certainly be a great help in distinguishing who was who!

Finally, I found the last volume disappointing and somewhat tedious. It is probably a combination of being written by a different author (the novel was incomplete on the authors death) and the depressing events of catastrophe upon catastrophe upon catastrophe as the family fortunes came crashing down. Even the segue between chapters seemed less charming.

I suppose it would have been richer and more meaningful to have some background in the various philosophies, but overall I don't feel that my ignorance hindered my enjoyment.

And furthermore, I easily lost track of which incidents/qualities were associated with which of the girls. In the end, I decided to just go for the ride and not worry too much about it.

Substitute 'protagonists' for 'girls' and that describes many of my reading experiences.

I've never come across this series before - sounds intriguing.

>67 ELiz_M: what fun! I haven't read this. But your the post, the books, your thoughts, the idea that I could maybe read this sometime - just enjoyed it.

>68 Cliff-Rhu-Rhubarb: Ha! Yes. On the upside, this current difficulty will allow me to re-read many books as if they were completely new to me....

>69 dchaikin: Thank you!

687. (finished 11/02/15) Professor Martens' Departure by Jaan Kross, pub. 1984



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "It is Kross's idea to...set {Martens'} vanity and self-importance against a sustained attempt at self-criticism -- and to show that self awareness does not make the slightest bit of difference; that vanity, ambition, and the compromising of ideals can coexist and even feed on the ability to see through one's own self deceptions. It is this profound insight that gives the book its universal appeal."

An interesting book that I read at the wrong time. The story takes place on a train ride from Professor Martens' home town in Estonia, on his way to respond to a summons to St. Petersburg, in 1909. During the journey, Martens converses with himself, ghosts from his life, and a fellow passenger. In between he reflects on the land around him and memories of the past, as well as ruminating on another Professor Martens, born in Germany almost 100 hundred years prior, which his own life seems to be mirroring. It is a quiet book, requiring more attention and knowledge than I posses. Without some understanding of the time and history of Russia, it is easy to miss the actions that cause Professor Martens so many troubling thoughts. Nonetheless, it was a good read -- there were many lovely moments, but I suspect I missed most of the subtleties and undercurrents that make the book great.

I am so very far behind! Moving across town, downsizing from a huge apartment to a tiny studio, while working mostly full-time and traveling for the holidays meant that I didn't have the energy or the time to keep up with my reviewing, even though the reading kept apace (in fact I read more -- audio books are an excellent packing/unpacking companion!). So, I am going to add quick posts for the books I read during this time.

688. (finished 11/05/2015) The Collector by John Fowles, pub. 1963 (removed for the 2008 edition).

Reviewed in my 2015 Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



A very good read, and I am much looking forward to The Magus, which I am told (by arukiyomi?) is similar in plot, but more complex in theme/literary sophistication.

689. (finished 11/16/15) Epitaph for a Small Winner (also known as The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas) by Machado de Assis, pub. 1881



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...the Brazilian writer subverted the form of the 19th century Realist novel while triumphantly achieving the realists objective -- a brutally honest depiction of contemporary society.... Machado's dark sense of humor, pessimistic view of human nature and abandonment of conventional narrative make him seem today one of the least dated 19th century writers."

I found the premise and structure of the novel intriguing, but the difficulty lies in the (intentional?) tension between a unique structure and a rather boring story -- Bras Cubas in an ordinary, unremarkable man detailing his mundane life from beyond the grave. His story is told in brief episodes in roughly chronological order, with much meta-fictional commentary by both the narrator and the author. The writing is at times beautiful and funny, but..... I just wish the story ws more compelling.

690. (finished 11/22/15) What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe, pub. 1993



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "In calling Coe's dazzling novel 'Postmodern', critics presumably have in mind its metatextual playfulness--its unreliable narrator, its mingling of literary forms, and the apparently arbitrary interconnectedness of its characters and plots. However, it sits just as happily in the tradition of Victorian social realism, in which personal destinies and sociopolitical contexts are entwined in ways revealed by the story."

Michael is a sensitive, failed writer. Upon publishing a successful novel, he was deeply hurt by remarks from his editor and went into a sulk and depression, choosing to work on a vanity-press biography rather than his own work. But even hat has stalled and he has been living as a recluse in his apartment for the past three years, when he is startled into action, to resume his investigating and writing the vanity press book -- a history of the rich and powerful Winshaw family, leading him ever deeper into political intrigues....

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. For once the satire struck my funny-bone just right, even without the intimate knowledge of the Thatcherite England satirized. I enjoyed the meta-fiction aspects, the flawed unreliable narrator, and seeing the manipulation of various threads into a (mostly) satisfying ending.

691. (Finished 11/22/2015) Uncle Tom's Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and narrated by Mirron Willis, pub. 1852



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} has a claim to be the most influential novel ever written.... Although 'Uncle Tom' has become a by-word for black complicity in white oppression, for Stowe, Tom displays Christian virtues... Besides the overt emotional and physical suffering of slaves, Stowe emphasizes how slavery damages the morality and humanity of slave owners themselves."

While it was good to finally read this novel, rather than absorbing it through its many cultural references, it was very hard going at times. It is such a mess of a novel, jumping from stunning sequences such as Eliza's escape over the ice floes to overly verbose exposing of ideals/philosophies by various characters. In audio form, there was far far too much "telling" and not enough "showing" to carry the narrative forward.

692. (Finished 11/26/2015) Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, pub. 1949

(I just read the second novella)

Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Mitford's novels, like those of Jane Austen, focus on the small social maneuverings of an exclusive family and their 'set'; like Austen, she uses fond but mocking satire to gently send up the family even while encouraging the reader to care about its fortunes."

Told through the eyes of Fanny, a sensible and less well-off narrator, this novel mostly revolves around the wealthy, beautiful Polly and her scandalous choice of a husband. I remember being delighted by the novel, but now I cannot recall the plot or any specific scenes. I definitely intend to read some of her other works when I need a fun quick read!

The Mitford sisters are fascinating. ... definitely worth reading a biography of them if you enjoy Nancy's work. (There is a great collection of the letters they sent each other, which really delves into all the craziness.) Nancy's fiction is based on her family life.

>78 amerynth: Thanks for the recommendation, I might have to track the book of letters down!

693. (Finished 11/28/2015) The Honorary Consul by Graham Greene, pub. 1973



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Like many of Greene's novels, The Honorary Consul is concerned with the intersections of politics, religion, and sex..."

Hmm, as the blurb in the 1001 book is mostly a lukewarm plot summary, I can only conclude that the novel was included because it was written by Greene. As always, the writing is very good. And in a twist, this time the catholic agonizing is not done by the main character.

694. (finished 12/05/2015) The Blindness of the Heart by Julia Franck, pub. 2007

Reviewed in my 2015 Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



A good story and I appreciated the point of view, but it should have been heart-wrenching.

695. (Finished 12/18/2016) The Quest for Christa T. by Christa Wolf, pub. 1968



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Christa Wolf is undoubtedly the most significant author to have lived and worked in...the former East Germany.... The narrator's highly self-conscious investigation becomes a meditation upon familiar themes for Wolf: politics and morality, memory and identity, and the underlying purpose of writing."

The above description sounds like a book I would love. Unfortunately, I struggled through this novel. I found it too cold, too intellectual, and read it at a time when I should have been reading light fluffy works.

696. (Finished 12/21/2016) The Back Room by Carmen Martín Gaite, pub. 1978



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The mixture of fiction and reality, the coexistence of a character part fantastic and part demonic...with personal memories, and the formalized structure of the story with much dialog, lead to innovative and imaginative results."

A perplexing and fluid novel. The language is lovely and flows, creating some creepy-beautiful moments. But it is hard to grasp, the plot disperses. I loved the atmosphere but found it hard to focus on it.

Getting close to 700!

>84 paruline: I have passed 700 in reading, but reviews are a little slower to catch up ;)

>85 ELiz_M: In that case congratulations! Was 700 something special?

700 - congrats!

>86 puckers: Thanks! Unfortunately, no. I was (and still am) so far behind with reviews I hadn't realized I was approaching a nice round number.

>87 Jan_1: Again, thanks!

697. (Finished 12/25/2015) The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch, pub. 1978



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Iris Murdoch's gift for elevating even the most seemingly banal of events into the focus of enduring philosophical and ethical questions is nowhere more convincingly wrought than in this novel by a writer at the peak of her powers."

Charles Arrowby, a well-known London theater director, food snob, and rake, has retired to a small coastal village. After a lifetime of working and keeping up appearances, he is relieved to finally be alone and quiet, to live his life as he sees fit and perhaps to write his memoirs. But soon after his retirement, strange events and uncanny happenings disrupt his life. Worse, visitors from his London life appear uninvited. And then his past, in the form of Hartley, his first and only love, returns with a vengeance.

What an impressive book. Murdoch's writing is exquisite, I fell in love with the many, varied, beautiful descriptions of the sea. The opening pages are wonderful. And the story takes a pedestrian turn and then it gets weird and compelling in a different way. I am not sure what to make of it, but it was fascinating.

698. (Finished 12/31/2015) Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, pub. 1952



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "All of Barbara Pym's early novels...sparkle with wit and invention. She has a superb war for the absurdities of everyday speech and her characters are observed with a sharp eye. What makes Excellent Women fer finest work is the emotionally engaging first-person narration."

Mildred, the daughter of a country vicar now alone in the world, has long been settled in London. she goes to church regularly, works part-time for a charitable organization, and is generally good. It being the 1950s, Mildred is already a spinster at age 30. Her comfortable life is disrupted by the arrival of new downstairs neighbors and then by the disruption of the lives of her friends in the vicarage.

This novel was a perfect read for an otherwise busy, stressful between-the-holidays week. The matter-of-fact descriptions of other peoples scrapes and the glimpses of humor (there was more than I caught, I am sure) were utterly delightful.

I'm glad you're still finding wonderful books on the list after having read 700.

>91 paruline: I should hope so! 700 books is only 53.6%, so there darned well better be a LOT of good books left!

>92 ELiz_M: That's sort of depressing that 700 books is only 53.6% of the list. I "knew" that, but to see it there is daunting. Especially since I'm only at 232.

I also loved The Sea, the Sea and Excellent Women.

>93 japaul22: I think it's because we think of the list as 1001-books, in which case, 700 books is a touch below 70%.

>89 ELiz_M: Wonderful review of The Sea, The Sea. Makes me want to read it all over again. Unfortunately, I don't have the time, being far below 53,6% :-)

>95 Simone2: Thanks :)

699. (Finished 1/02/2016) The First Garden by Anne Hébert, pub. 1988



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Hebert's short, dreamlike scenes convey the intricacies of Flora's consciousness to the reader with an immediacy that is almost disturbing.... A short savage novel, The First Garden takes an unsparing look at how people 'act out' at the expense of others, and spells out the repercussions that such behavior can have."

This quiet novel details the memories and experiences of Flora, an older actress that has decided to accept one last role before retirement to portray Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days in a theater in Quebec. One of the reasons for accepting the role is because her estranged daughter asked her to come to Quebec to see her. But when she arrives, the daughter has, once again, disappeared. The result is a a beautifully fragmented novel with Flora roaming the city with her daughter's boyfriend, with present thoughts intermingling with memories of her childhood in Quebec. I quite enjoyed it, even though I have a sense that I did not grasp all the layers in the novel. I should re-read this someday....

700. (Finished 1/09/2016) Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair, pub. 1922



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Brief, bare, and cruelly ironic, this novel marked a turning point in Sinclair's career.... Sinclair's complex relation to modernity, and to literary modernism, is at the heart of this novel, which she used to explore the 'life' of a woman...."

This slim novel begins with the the parents leaning over the crib to kiss Harriett and continues to present, chronologically, scenes from her life until the final moment. Although I enjoyed the writing at first, overall I have a somewhat negative feeling towards it. Perhaps I identified too quickly with Harriett and was uncomfortable as I empathized with her turning into a sour old spinster.

701. (Finished 1/13/2016) Love's Work by Gillian Rose, pub. 1995



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The philosopher and social theorist Gillian Rose's autobiographical text...intertwines {love and work} in order to explore the love of work (the work of thought, of philosophy) and the work, and workings, of love.... The reader...is challenged to think in new ways about living and dying, the comedy of life and the tragedy of philosophy , and their ultimate inseparability."

This book did not work for at all. I found it to be too intellectual, beyond my ability/willingness to understand. Their are some wonderful vignettes from her life interspersed with the philosophical musings, but it was a tough slog for me. It seems to be akin to the essays of Susan Sontag which I also don't enjoy/understand.

>99 ELiz_M: The snow in NYC must give you the perfect reason to stay home and read read read :-)

>100 Simone2: It should, but I have spent an awful lot of time on LT and household chores (although with the latter I do have Wives and Daughters keeping me company).

:)

702. (Finished 1/23/2016) Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, pub. 1984



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel is filled with a burlesque ebullience, a carnival riot of voices, dialects, and stories through which Carter explores the reality of the perpetual masquerade with shrewd discretion.... Carter brings a degree of rationality, of subtle reticence, to her narrative, enabling her to exploit the self-parodic energies of magical realism. But she does not compromise pragmatism in her depiction of self transformation..."

what a unique, complex, fascinating work! The novel begins in at the cusp of the 20th Century in London where a young journalist interviews the sensational winged aerialist, Fevvers. As she narrates her fantastical life history to the skeptical Walser, both he and the reader are caught in Fevver's spell. And it is with great relief that we, along with Walser clandestinely join the circus as it journeys eastward to St. Petersburg and beyond. In the second section, the story opens up to encompass the stories of many of the performers -- Boffo the clown, Mignon an uneducated girl passed from man to man, Princess of Abyssinia the tiger tamer, Colonel Kearny the owner of the circus and his fortune-telling pig Sylvia. And then, there is the final train journey across Siberia as the year, and the circus, draws to an end.

Carter's use of narration is dazzling. Reality is delicately undermined by touches of magic. The supposedly reliable narration of Walser is subsumed in Fevver's account of her life story. The refusal to categorize Fevver's as Carter offers hints for a multitude of explanations. The passage about the clowns unique act of choosing their face, creating their self, is lovely.And there are too many other striking images that will stay with me for a long time to mention them all. The novel's beginning, and Fevver's, are so mesmerizing that it can't help but disappoint as the narrative moves further and further from Fevver. The third section has moments that dragged even with the superb writing that kept me awe-struck to the end. (I STILL don't know whether to believe Fevvers is a magical creature masquerading as a fraud, or a fraud so deeply embedded in the disillusion that it has become real....)

The Sea The Sea was one I finished in Jan last year so it was good to see your review this January. Loved it myself.

703. (Finished 2/05/2016) I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch, pub. 1954



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Widely considered Switzerland's greatest literary figure of the last century, Max Frisch was a novelist, playwright, diarist, and journalist.... An ironic exploration of an extreme existential crisis, this is also a touching portrayal of a failed marriage and a social critique of Swiss conformity. Complex, psychologically profound, and intellectually challenging, it still manages to be entertaining, funny poignant at the same time."

A man on a train is asked by the other gentleman in the compartment if he is Herr Stiller. The man denies it vigorously but when the train arrives in Switzerland he is detained and after punching the security guard is arrested. In prison, he is given notebooks and encourage to write his life story in order to provide his defense council with enough facts and information to confirm he is the American he claims to be.

At first, the story was engaging, I was intrigued with the problem of how does one prove an identity in the age before internet and genetic testing if your captors insist you are a different person. But as the novel wore on, I never fully engaged with the story or the narrator -- it was as if there was a barrier between the books and myself -- I could red all the words, but couldn't understand the ideas behind them. Part of it was the mis-management of expectations. It seems to be set in a fairly realistic world and begins with the dramatic arrest; the book never delivers on that story line -- it is not the point. But I wanted to know WHY Stiller, who had been missing for five years, was recognized/arrested in the first place. The book goes through the process of establishing the narrator in prison so he (and the reader) are trapped in his thoughts, but it didn't bother to make sense of the situation -- why he was there, why so many people were brought in to establish his identity, why he was allowed to wander around with Stiller's deserted wife. I never bought the framework and couldn't concentrate on the real story -- the narrator's thoughts and philosophies on identity and society.

704. (Finished 2/09/2016) The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo, pub. 1965



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Ngugi's second novel, established his reputation as a major African writer. At one level, this is a simple love story.... On a more complex level, the novel engages with Kenya's precolonial and colonial history.... In describing the mythological origins of the Giyuku people, and in setting his story in Kenyan hills as yet untouched by colonialism, Ngugi works to preserve African cultural differences within the English-language novel."

This shorter novel is masterfully told. It is mostly the story of young Waiyaki. His father, once a powerful and respected elder, whose prophesy of the coming of the white man and the challenge to the people was ignored, determines to send his only son to the white man's school to learn their secrets. Thus Waiyaki grows up with a foot in each world, not quite fully belong to either. Always extremely charismatic, he is driven by his passion to help his people, to acquire the power of the white man through learning and education. And he earns great respect from the people. But his passion blinds him to the growing unrest, the need of the people for power and action now, in the present as the white men impose taxes on the land and works to end the ancient rituals of the people. There are other powerful forces battling for the heart and soul of the people. One is represented by an elder, a friend of Waiyaki's father, the only other person that knew the full prophecy of his father. He leads the movement against the encroaching white culture, the movement to keep the people pure. There is also the fiercely compelling Joshua, another child of the tribe educated in the white man's mission, and their Christian missionary in the hills whose inspiring sermons convert many to his rigid vision of the right, Christian way to live.

The hatred between the those fighting for the purity of the people and the Christians has been building for many years and has reached the boiling point even as young Waiyaki gains renown and power as a teacher, a man trying to unite the hills through education. But then he falls in love with Joshua's daughter....

Ngugi structured the book perfectly, each episode showing a different aspect of the cultural conflict, each adding to the tension which builds and builds until the dramatic climax on the final pages of the novel. It is not a book that wraps up loose ends or leaves the reader in a comfortable place. It is one of those stories where the conclusion is foretold and yet the reader still hopes disaster will be averted.

>105 ELiz_M: Fascinating review, thank you Eliz. One for the TBR!

Yes, a very interesting review.

And that is a lovely cover!

>105 ELiz_M: I haven't read this one but I read another of his, Devil on the Cross, this summer and was blown away. I'll have to check this one out too.

Once again, I am a bit behind with reviews and thread updates :/

>106 Simone2: I hope you enjoy it!

>107 M1nks: Thanks! Unfortunately, as I read the ebook I did not get to see much of the cover.

>108 fundevogel: Thanks for the recommendation!

705. (Finished 2/12/2016) A Dry White Season by André Brink, pub. 1979



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...André Brink exposes how the wheels of state repression never stop grinding, at a human and personal level, and eventually grind our hero under. Ultimately he points the finger at the iniquities of South Africa's apartheid policy."

Ben Du Toit is generally a quiet, unassuming, decent man. He is a dedicated teacher, despite his wife's urging him to use his talents for more lucrative pursuits, and good to (although no longer compatible with) his wife. Upon beseechment, he has quietly helped Gordon, the school's janitor, educate his boy. The janitor's boy, now a teen, participates in demonstration turned riot and is last seen being loaded into a police van. Gordon again appeals to Ben for help, as a white man he more likely to get information from authorities about Gordon's son. Ben's complacent life slowly transforms in a Kafkaesque world as he becomes aware of the system's all-encompassing power over the lives of citizens, black and white.

Brink's novel is utterly compelling. He structures it as a mystery, beginning with a frame story that gives the reader a glimpse of the end of the story -- a famous romance writer on his way to meet an old college acquaintance and is shocked at the deterioration and paranoia exhibited by his former friend, Ben. The writer promises to keep Ben's papers safe.... The writing is plain and straightforward, even as the situation grows more complex and convoluted and along the way Brink is able to sketch in many aspects of South African life in the 1970s -- Susan's dissatisfaction with a life regulated to being a mother and a wife to Ben, craving the wealth and position that would allow her to be more, Ben's distrust and fear of the blacks, even an interlude with beautiful descriptions of the wilderness. While the frame story superbly draws the reader into Ben's story, returning to it at the end undermined the power of the story for me.

It is an unsettling book to read, forcing the reader to look at and empathize with those suffering the degradation of an oppressive regime while mirroring the readers' complicity.

you just reviewed two of my faves from the continent one after the other and great reviews too.

>111 arukiyomi: Thank you! They are both fabulous books, for very different reasons. After these, I decided to switch to a different continent so as to have a few good books left at the end of reading the list.

706. (Finished 2/29/2016) The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, pub. 1988



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Written in a playful, magic realist style, The Satanic Verses is a transcultural view of the world as perceived by two Indian migrants, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha.... A multitude of Black and Asian British characters probes postcolonial migrant experience in the novel. Mixing words, histories, fictions, dreams, delusions, and prophecies, Rushdie's style is an exercise in cosmopolitanism."

The Satanic Verses is a mess of a novel. A wonderful, confounding, non-linear, intricately structured mess of a novel. It has taken me many many weeks to work up the nerve to review it, because how to begin? It is impossible to summarize. In fact I could not find a decent plot summary on the internet; they all tend to get bogged down with one of the narrative threads before they've finished presenting the whole.

(Most of ) The Plot lines:
1. Present-day plot of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, two Indian actors (the former a famous screen actor of Bollywood "Theologicals", the later a very successful and unknown voice-over artist in Britain, the "Man of a Thousand Voices and a Voice"), that falling from the sky were transformed. Gibreel into the Angel Gabriel, Saladin into a devil.
2. Flashbacks to Gibreel's past
3. Flashbacks to Saladin's past
4. Gibreel's (and this is important) dreams of the Muhammad's (in his dream version, Mahound) early days of preaching in Mecca (Jahilia).
5. The present and past of various people that interact with the two main characters:
a. The story of Rosa Diamond, an elderly women that found Gibreel and Saladin washed up on her shore after they fell; both her present life in England and her former life and adulterous love in Argentina.
b. Pamela, Saladin's "widow", and Saladin's friend, Jumpy Joshi, present day story, interlaced with memories of Saladin.
c. Alleluia Cone, Gibreel's mountain-climbing girlfriend, who narrates her Mount Everest story to a classroom
6. Gibreel's dreams of an exiled Imam in London, plotting the overthrow of the Empress
7. Gibreel's dreams of Ayesha, a young prophet that leads an entire village on pilgrimage to Mecca over/through the Arabian Sea.
8. The present and past of the Suyfin family, emigrants in England that shelter Saladin as he outwardly transforms into a devil
9. A subplot involving the arrest of a London militant Black leader for a series of murders he did not commit.

There is so much in this novel, so many ideas, themes, contradictions. I was immediately intrigued by the two main characters and the fact that they were both actors, both professionals at transformations and playing roles. Knowing beforehand that one becomes and angel and the other the devil, I guessed incorrectly which became which. I assumed the fussy, straight-laced Saladin would be the angel and the flamboyant, verbose Gibreel would become the devil. After all, in the history of literature isn't the devil more fun? So from the very beginning, I was off-balance. And since, obviously, there is very little that is "real" in this magical realism novel, there is no re-balancing, the characters, the themes, the style is constantly shifting. In an interview, Rushdie commented:

"{Ovid's Metamorphoses is} one of my favourite books and after all this is a novel about metamorphosis. It's a novel in which people change shape, and which addresses the great questions about a change of shape, about change, which were posed by Ovid: about whether a change in form was a change in kind....

Also I thought the book itself was conceived as one which constantly metamorphosed. It keeps turning into another kind of book. Certainly, from my point of view, that was technically one of the biggest gambles. Because I couldn't be sure that the readers would come along for the ride. It was something which could be irritating. Imagine that you're reading a certain kind of book and you're suddenly stuck with another kind of book." (emphasis mine).

I was fascinated by the many layers and the references back and forth between the different story lines, even though the were often more confusing than clarifying. When several of the secondary plots revolves around a mythical Ayesha in times and places with which I am unfamiliar, it does further muddle things. There are also many reflections and mirrors (although not so much the physical objects symbolizing it), demonstrating the contradictory nature of being human:

"...For are they not conjoined opposites, these two, each man the other’s shadow? – One seeking to be transformed into the foreignness he admires, the other preferring, contemptuously, to transform; one, a hapless fellow who seems to be continually punished for uncommitted crimes, the other, called angelic by one and all, the type of man who gets away with everything.”

I could go on and on, ranting and raving about this novel without ever coming to a point. Possibly very like the novel itself. With all the cleverness and layers and complexity, I am not sure there is a meaning, an overall moral. Gibreel and Saladin have distinctive trajectories, but I am not sure I was supposed to learn a lesson from them. What, after all, is the moral of a carnival ride?

PS. I decided to not treat the book's controversy. If you are interested, there is a whole internet of discussion out there. But I did find this article eloquently expressed one view of it:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9523983/The-Satanic-Verses-and-me.html

PPS. Thankfully, the internet provided what my edition lacked, footnotes:
https://brians.wsu.edu/2017/02/08/cover-satanic-verses/

Fabulous review! I'm going to be reading this in a little while and I'll make use of your links.

really really good review...excellent.

>114 M1nks: I was grateful to find the "footnotes" website -- the chapter summaries were helpful (I read them after-the-fact) and some of the footnotes are very informative/interesting!

>115 arukiyomi: ~blush~ Thank you!

>113 ELiz_M: Wow! It is perhaps my all-time favourite but I could never have explained why as well as you did.

>117 Simone2: Thanks! I am happy to hear that my incoherent ramblings pass as explanation! :)

707. (Finished 3/24/2016) Facundo by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, pub. 1845



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "This hybrid of biography, history, geography, recollections, Utopian accounts, diatribes, and political programs has greater narrative strength than any Spanish-American fiction of its time.... The book's main literary value lies in Facundo himself, a fascinating monstrous creature.... The complex additions that surround the text, the symbolic and allegorical depth of many passages, the powerful and often self-aware style, which seeks to win the agreement of the reader, reveal a modern quality that still nourishes the best Argentine novelists."

My apologies for over-quoting the 1001 book, but I have nothing to say about this entry. I "read" it, in hat my eyes passed over the majority of the pages, but I spent most of the time wool-gathering. At the best of times, I struggle with non-fiction works and this is 19th century non-fiction! Even more unfortunate, it followed what will probably be my favorite read of the year.

I do recommend reading the full introductory matter -- the book has an interesting and complicated publishing history and understanding that may make the book more comprehensible.

708. (Finished 3/26/2016) Tom Jones by Henry Fielding and narrated by Ken Danziger, pub. 1749



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is a picturesque comic novel.... This is not only a long and complicated novel but also a great one.... Fielding describes...the rich variety of life in eighteenth-century England, from the rural poor to the affluent aristocrats.... Fielding was a brilliant experimentalist and Tom Jones is surprisingly postmodern...."

Tom Jones is a foundling child, left in the bed of the wealthy landowner and judge, Squire Allworthy. Allworthy raises Tom as a son along with his nephew William Blifil. Tom is a mischievous child, often getting into scrapes and as he grows up, the scrapes involve a village girl. Tom is eventually turned out of doors due to his alleged bad behavior. Meanwhile on the neighboring estate the beautiful saintly Sophia Western, raised by her widowed father and aunt, is made severely unhappy by her father's insistence that she marry a man she detests. Her only option is to flee to London and beg the protection of another relation. Many, many, many adventures befall both Tom and Sophia before each find a happy ending.

I had such good success with listening to Wives and Daughters that I thought I would try another very long audio book. Tom Jones was somewhat less successful. It took two months, mostly listening during weekend chores and I quite lost the thread of the various plot lines and the many digressions. The "author's" interruptions and digressions were usually awful in audio, except when they weren't. There was a particularly interesting diatribe against Shakespeare that I enjoyed. If I had any idea of when in the book it takes place, I would like to read it. Eventually, as the various plots become entangled, the story began to pick up and I was rather captivated in the last 6-8 hours (of 36 hours). Someday, I may even re-read it in paper form.

709. (Finished 04/07/2016) Down Second Avenue by Es'kia Mphahlele, pub. 1959



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Ezekiel Mphahlele is one of the most pervasive voices in South African literature.... The story is told in a simple but evocative language. Pivoting on two central themes in black South African literature, alienation and exile, it presents Mphahlele's personal transformation from a provincial schoolboy from the rural "old Africa" into a socially and politically conscious writer, journalist, and activist..."

This book, sometimes referred to as an autobiographical novel sometimes as a memoir, sometimes as autobiography, wasn't quite what I expected. The book tells the story of the authors life from childhood through his self-imposed exile to Nigeria, through short chapters describing events in his life interspersed with interludes containing more introspective/philosophical meanderings. While many of the scenes and images are powerfully described, there is an intellectual overlay and emotional distance. It neither provides a person connection and view of the narrators world as a novel would, nor provide a complete context of his world as in a biography. I enjoyed it, but it didn't resonate.

>709

There was a particularly interesting diatribe against Shakespeare that I enjoyed. If I had any idea of when in the book it takes place, I would like to read it.

You could try Project Gutenberg.

CTRL + F and enter 'Shakespear' (sic). Though if you're using Safari, I'm not sure what the equivalent is. It brings up twelve matches for me.

>122 Cliff-Rhu-Rhubarb: Hello, Cliff. Thanks for the tip! I was thinking of trying to find the relevant passage in my large paper copy and didn't think of searching the electronic text.

710. (Finished 04/28/2016) The Water Margin by Shi Nai'an, pub. 1370ish



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel is loosely based on exploits of the early 12th century bandit Song Jiang and his group of outlaws.... Although at times extremely violent and misogynous by today's standards, the novel captivates the reader's imagination through its multi-dimensional characters and the lively, colorful language."

I read the J. H. Jackson translation, the 70-chapter version, as it was the only edition available in either of my library systems. I had it on a short loan, only three weeks, as another library patron had put a hold on the book. If you are able to devote an hour or two a day, I highly recommend reading this story as I did -- in largish chunks every day. The Water Margin is the story of 108 and heroes, told in short connecting chapters. Each of these heroes is an ordinary person trying to live his/her life according to Confucian principles, but is confounded by corrupt officials or unscrupulous individuals and the act of defiance, of righting the wrong, puts the character on the wrong side of the law, forcing him/her to flee and eventually join the outlaws established in the marshlands.

I found the first half of the book almost compulsively readable, despite being completely unable to keep track of the characters (there was a handy list in my edition, but I kept forgetting to consult it -- I just went with the flow). Many of the stories of the various heroes and how the outsmarted/bested their adversaries were entertaining and delightful. And yes, there was violence, but the simplicity of the prose somehow allowed me to gloss over the violence; it felt similar to Looney Tunes violence. Once Song Jiang establishes himself and the many heroes he has gathered so far, in the marsh, the story becomes less individual and more repetitive -- the story of the remaining heroes is told through Song Jiang's perspective rather than the perspective of the various heroes. In this 70-chapter version, the story is wrapped up at a logical moment -- all of the 108 heroes have been gathered and they have just won a major victory. However, there is an abrupt ending to the story with an odd little event at the very end that seemed to change the meaning of everything that went before. So, although I usually do not read the front matter before reading a work (fear of spoilers), in this case I highly recommend it. The introduction and preface outline the framework of the world in which ths story takes place and does explain the reasoning behind the odd ending.



Notes on various editions and translations (cribbed from the introduction of the Jackson-Lowe translation):
Like many of the older texts on the 1001 list, the authorship of this work is not clear. The first known version, circa 1370 is often attributed to Shi Naian (although some scholars believe it was authored by the same person as The Romance of Three Kingdoms. But the text went through various editors and commentators until a 120 chapter version -- covering the adventures of the various characters as they became bandits, rebelling against corrupt officials, and eventually offered amnesty and pardoned and accepted into Imperial service -- was published in 1592. Then in 1641, the book underwent another major revision -- the last 50 chapters -- detailing the amnesty and pardon -- were cut and the story was reshaped to create a more unified (70-chapter) whole.

Modern Translations:
1) J. H. Jackson - originally published in 1937 and "rejuvenated" by Edwin H. Lowe in 2009. This is the 70-chapter version. Jackson's translation sanitized the Chinese text, Lowe reinserted the explicit descriptions of brutality and barbarity, and the profanity of the lower class characters included in the work.

2) Sidney Shapiro - published in 1981. This is a 100 chapter version. It is considered an excellent translation although it dos not not fully capture the more colorful language.

3) John and Alex Dent-Young - published in several volumes from 1994 to 2002. This is the 120 chapter version. Also considered an excellent translation, and one that includes the more profane language, it does occasionally use British slang in the translation - characters calling each other "mate", for example.

711. (finished 5/10/2016) Nemesis by Philip Roth, pub. 2010

Reviewed in my 2015 Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Set in Newark, NJ, during the summer of 1944 during a polio epidemic concentrated in the Jewish neighborhood. The opening section is excellent, but the book looses momentum and interest when the scene shifts.

>125 ELiz_M: I liked that one a lot, but I agree that it didn't live up to the expectations I had after that first chapter.

I agree. As I said in my review,

"I’ll not spoil if for you. Roth does plenty of that...

It left me wondering why on earth it was added to the 1001 list in its most recent edition.

Perhaps it made it because it was, as declared by Roth, to be the author’s last novel. If so, it seems about time he rested."

>126 Simone2:, >127 arukiyomi: Sometimes I wonder if the contributors to the 1001 book have read the entirety of the books they blurb.... Another great example is Falling Man -- truly stunning beginning for an adequate novel.

712. (Finished 05/12/2016) Adam Bede by George Eliot and narrated by Wanda McCaddon, pub. 1859



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Eliot's first full-length novel is at once a fine example of, and contains a passionate manifesto for, literary realism..... Indeed, while the novel is peopled with lovingly sketched rural characters, it is almost more compelling at times such a {the climax}, when the language of realism develops into something stranger.... Contemporary readers may find the conclusion somewhat hard to wallow, but there remains much to relish in this vividly narrated and emotionally convincing novel."

Adam Bede is an intelligent, thoughtful, hard-working carpenter in rural England. He is in love with pretty young woman on a neighboring farm, but as a practical man, cannot marry her until his prospects improve enough to support a family. His younger brother, Seth, also works in the carpentry shop. But he has a tendency to daydream and place greater importance on spiritual life. Seth is in love with the young Methodist preacher, Dinah. The novel beautifully describes the rural life and it's difficulties and pleasures. But the crux of the story is the ruinous situation Hetty becomes involved in and how its impact on all the other major characters.

As Eliot's novel, it still retains some aspects of older forms of the novel -- the novelist interjects explanations of the story that is about to unfold very much in the manner of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. The places have names that are almost allegorical -- Hayslope in Loamshire is populated by relatively prosperous farmers/squires but the residents of Snowfield in Stonyshire have a much grimmer, more difficult life. Also, like many 19th century works, the main story concludes and then there are several chapters that take place months or years later that serve as an extended epilogue.

Overall, it was a delightful book and the audio narration is quite good. One of my main difficulties was that the book came to such a decisive conclusion after chapter 48 that I thought I was at the end of the audio book and it wasn't until several days later when I read a summary of the book in preparation for posting a review that i realized I had missed the final two tracks of the audio book!

"truly stunning beginning for an adequate novel."

doesn't that sum up pretty much every single Ian McEwan novel, too?

>130 arukiyomi: LOL! I haven't read one of his novels in a while, but you might be right.

>130 arukiyomi: >131 ELiz_M: Yes, McEwan is a master in stunning beginnings, as is DeLillo in Falling Man. Although I didn't mind in the last case, I was blown away by those first pages.

713. (Finished 05/19/2016) The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca de Queiros, pub. 1876



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The first and most famous novel by Portugal's foremost nineteenth-century writer.... The continuing power of the story to shock, at least in Catholic countries, was shown in 2002 when a Spanish-language movie version caused a first-rate scandal in Mexico."

From the title, I assumed I knew the outlines of the story -- another tragic downfall of a good priest a la The Thornbirds. But a few pages in, the background of the young, handsome Father Amaro is given and I noted that "of course he commits a carnal sin; not exactly a noble character with a tragic flaw." Eca de Queiros writes a very different story, one that highlights the realness and the hypocrisy of the religion and society of the time. I kept reading on, wondering how he was going to hold my attention for the next 400 pages when the plot was so obvious. It was the layering of details and the fullness of the portrayals that captivated. The story itself was actually rather boring.

The introduction had some interesting information about this novel -- apparently the book read today is the third version of the novel. A draft copy was published serially in a magazine (the magazine editors were supposed to send the author proofs to edit, but published it instead). Eca de Queiros revised the work and published it in 1876, to little notice. After writing his popular second novel and receiving criticism from Brazil's Machado de Assis, he completely re-wrote the novel and published it again in 1880.

714. (Finished 05/25/2016) The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead and narrated by C. M. Hébert, pub. 1940



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "....The result is a rich tapestry of scenes that shift from the comic to the gruesome with a rapidity that reflects the swift emotional changes of real life. The characters produced by Stead's exhaustive technique are both lifelike and fascinating."

The novel, and the family depicted, is thankfully unlike anything else I have read. Sam Pollit is a naturalist in a government department in D.C. married to a once wealthy Southern belle, Henny. At the opening of the novel they have six children (a seventh is born later on). Louie, the eldest, is the daughter of Sam's first wife, and the main focus of the book. It is a fantastical and brutal depiction of a disastrous marriage/family. Sam acting child-like strives to be the end-all-be-all in the life of all the children, dominating them and entertaining them, endeavoring to be the center of the world. Henny, angry, bitter, and more realistic both ignores and torments the children in her own way. But the world created by Stead and her characters is inexplicable -- the inventiveness of the language, the free-wheelingness of it all. It is sort of mind-boggling. I definitely should not have listened to this one and may someday have to go back and read it properly to get a better sense of what happened and how.

715. (Finished 05/29/2016) The Parable of the Blind by Gert Hofmann, pub. 1985



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Breughel's painting The Parable of the Blind depicts six blind.... Narrated in the first person plural voice, the collective 'we' in which these blind men think.... In Hofmann's masterful hands, Breughel's painting becomes a parable of the blind...but of the ambiguous power relationship between the artist and his models."



This is an odd little book. The author imagines a day or so of the life of this group of blind men. They have been wandering as a group for a long time and now are trying to find their way to the artist's house by the pond, where they have been asked to come to be painted. Getting there is a trial -- they suspect they are being mocked by the villagers, get lost in a filed, attacked by a dog (or dogs), and when they finally arrive, they are asked to fall into a pond over and over.

Although told in the first person plural, "we", there is a distinct sense that one individual is narrating, as often a single blind man is remarked upon. I suppose if I had been paying attention I might have discovered if all six men were mentioned/described, or only five.

I don't have the knack for understanding parables; I have no idea what the "lesson" of this this little story should be.

716. (Finished 06/02/2016) Mother by by Maxim Gorky, pub. 1907



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Often described as socialist realism, such a term does not cover the breadth of Gorky's skill in a novel that, despite it ideological bent, resists becoming propaganda. Political goals are interwoven with passages of lyrical beauty, concessional humor, and vivid and memorable characters."

I found this to be a lovely read. It is the story of the slow radicalization of a typical Russian working-class family. After her brutal, abusive husband dies, Mother has only her son to look after and to care for her. The son, a factory worker is an intelligent boy that educates himself and as he reads more becomes more involved with the nascent labor-rights movement. Her love for her son draws Mother into the movement, as well. But as an older, uneducated, religious person, she has a unique perspective -- seeing in the movement the desire to love and show mercy to all people.

Normally I would have no patience with a main character that is so simple and good -- always winning people's confidence and saying the right thing. But the novel is so skillfully written and incorporates so much of the world at the time that I enjoyed it immensely.

717. (Finished 06/10/2016) The Roots of Heaven by Romain Gary, pub. 1956



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The fifth novel by Romain Gary, which brought him the Prix Goncourt, conveys the author's ardent support of dignity and compassion with wry humor and brilliant insight.... Richly deserving its great distinction, {it} pays tribute to an ancient, imperishable, and desperate gaiety that is itself a form of subversion and means of survival."

Set in French Equatorial Guinea, not too long after WWII, it tells the story of Morel's futile campaign to prevent the wholesale slaughter of elephants. Morel, a concentration camp survivor, fled Europe after the war in pursuit of an idea that helped sustain him ad fellow inmates during the war: when the enclosed camp with its barbed wire and crowded conditions were too much, a fellow inmate exhorted them, think of the freest creature on earth, think of the elephants roaming free in Africa, unstoppable by any barriers put in their way....

But colonial Africa in the 1950s is an uneasy place, populated by European misfits and the restless natives all vying for their human way of life regardless of it's impact on the world around them -- form the man that supplies Zoos with baby elephants, to the European and native guides for big game hunters, to the colonists attempting to farm the land, to the native guerillas in need of ivory-money for arms, to the traditional natives in need of meat in order to both live and perpetuate their culture. Only Morel sees in the elephants a necessary compliment to humanity -- the idea that protecting nature is also protecting freedom and preventing humanity from devolving into baseness.

It is an intriguing novel, written about a time and place of which I know nothing and describing an idealism that I know nothing about and the structure reinforces the unknowingness. Although it is Morel's story, it is not told through his eyes. Instead the novel uses Conrad's framing device -- an individual relating to a priest the events surrounding Morel's crusade, relating the stories told him by other characters. So the reader sees the events through the eyes of a German "hostess", an unorthodox, down-to-earth priest, an American journalist, a European educated would-be revolutionary leader, a Danish environmentalist, and so on. So it is a beautiful, yet slow, odd read.

718. (Finished 06/15/2016) Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev , pub. 1877

Removed for the 2008 edition, review is in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



A well-written, complex novel, that for some reason I found boring.

.
.

719. (Finished 06/21/2016) Buddha's Little Finger/The Clay-Machine Gun by Viktor Pelevin, pub. 1996



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} weaves together its various strands and characters in a way that is nothing less than random.... ...every element must be connected into a tapestry of the strange, the exaggerated, and the delusional, creating the impression of some larger meaning. The charm of Pelevin's book is the playful way in which it denies yet enjoys meaning, and the shear joy of invention it exudes."

How bizarre. If The Master and Margarita and Siddhartha got together and and had a baby, it might be this book. How to begin...? The novel is composed of two primary story lines. The first story line is set in the days following the October Revolution, in which a young poet having published a accidentally subversive poem, flees arrest by assuming the identity of minor government official and is drafted into the continuing conflict by Russian folklore hero Vasily Chapayev. The second story line in set in modern times where the narrator is confined in a mental institute with three other inmates suffering with false identities and contains their delusions/stories as well. Both plots are narrated by Pyotr Voyd, waking from an unsettling dream in one world to a nightmare in the other....

Throughout the weirdness and the mind-numbing discussions of Buddhism, what kept me reading was the occassional staggering turn of phrase:
"{Man} is doomed for all eternity to drag after him out of the past a string of dark and terrible carriages inherited from goodness knows whom. And he calls the meaningless rumbling of this accidental coupling of hopes, opinions and fears his life. And there is no way to avoid this fate.''

I don't know if this book is brilliant or bullshit or both, but I do know that I enjoyed the ride.

>138 ELiz_M: I fell on the side of brilliant, although I can see an argument for bullshit, too.

>139 ursula: Perhaps if I had some knowledge of Buddhism it would help it seem less mumbo-jumbo to me....

>138 ELiz_M: And I had forgotten to review a book, so I added it to the post above.

Enjoyed your recent reviews. I think I might be tempted with The Roots of Heaven

>142 baswood: I hope you do read it someday - I would love to hear your thoughts!

720. (Finished 06/22/2016) The House with the Blind Glass Windows by Herbjørg Wassmo, pub. 1981



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Wassmo's fragmented prose conveys Tora's increasing despair.... The novel is not just a tale of woe;... While centrally a novel about the victimization of women, {it} also celebrates Tora's triumph. This is a powerful tale about women's solidarity as they struggle against gender inequality, poverty, and postwar depression."

It feels wrong to say this given the subject matter, but it a lovely little book. This short novel tells, in a simple manner, the story of Tora's coming of age in a small, impoverished, fishing village in Norway in the period following WWII. Tora is the illegitimate daughter of a German soldier because of this, she and her mother are not really accepted in the village. Her mother is reduced to a poor job and living with an ugly man, both inside and out. But even though the events are terrible, the female characters are wonderfully drawn -- the well-off aunt that forges an equal partnership with her husband and yet has fears that require help and support from Tora's mother. The friend upstairs that holds her family together after her mother falls apart and still has time to guide Tora. The young woman teacher in the village that controls the classroom with kindness and quietness, instill a love of learning in Tora and others.

I suspect the trilogy, as a whole, would be a four-star read, but this story ends abruptly and feels incomplete.

As someone who aspires to read maybe 400 of the 1001 books, I'm amazed at your 719. Well done, you! I wonder if how much trouble you're having tracking down the books though. Where do you source them?

I have read nowhere near that amount, haha, but I do own over 150 of them - less than 80 of which are read yet, and a lot of mine have actually been random finds at 2ndhand shops. Others I've gotten from Abe and the like, and of course the library.
And yes, I am also amazed at your numbers!

>145 Nickelini:, >146 .Monkey.: Thanks! Since I live in NYC, I have many excellent sources for the books! There is a very literate used bookstore that I stalk for 1001 titles, at the moment my own-tbr has 107 books from the combined list. I also have library cards for the New York Public Library system (4th largest in the US) AND the Brooklyn Public Library System (55th largest in the US).

When I can't find the books in the library (for example, The House with the Blind Glass Windows was in the NYPL system, but could not be found when I requested it) I see if it can be found through Better World Books. It is an organization that receives donations form many sources, including decommissioned library books, so I have better luck finding affordable, unusual titles through it than some of the other internet book sites. Once, I received a book from them that had previously belonged to the Brooklyn Public Library!

My numbers are so high because I read a lot and always have. When I first found this list in 2007 I had already read more than 250 titles from it. And every year since at least half of my reading, ~50 books, is from the list. Even so, I still have 580ish titles to choose from and haven't read many books that would seem to be obvious.... The Line of Beauty, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, The Golden Notebook, The Portrait of a Lady, etc.

I've always read a good deal, too, though when I was younger I read a great deal of thrillers and much smaller numbers of more literary works; but even in my teens I would still seek out classics that I somehow never had to read for classes. And yet I've barely dented the list! Hahaha. I've actually been making pretty nice headway this year though so I shouldn't complain. xP

My fear is that as I work my way through the list I'll find myself just left with books that, while no doubt are very worthy, I will find pretty dull and boring.

>149 M1nks: My solution is that I am going to stop consciously reading from the list once I reach 1001 books, so there are 304 titles that I won't read. Also, I am "saving" some works that I know I will probably enjoy -- several of the works by Zola, for example.

>148 .Monkey.: Ha! One of my main reasons for starting this list was because after Grad school when i first moved to NYC I was only reading mystery novels, hundreds a year, and one day I was around page 200 of mystery and had a weird sense of deja vu. Yep, I had already read that particular book. So I decided I wanted to balance my reading and I started looking for lists of classics....

Hahaha. It's not that I ever had anything against the classics, but I always read for fun, and thrillers are fun, and easily devoured, so... but then yes, I realized it was a heck of a lot of "junk food" and needed to be balanced, so I started looking harder at the more literary stuff and consciously choosing to read more of that. :) Now I actually read a majority of the "good" stuff and just have a little of the "junk" here & there. :P

721. (Finished 06/27/2016) The Bell by Iris Murdoch, pub. 1958



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is generally agreed to be Iris Murdoch's best early novel. The plot clearly belongs to the Anglo-Irish literary genre of the 'big house' novel.... The Bell established Iris Murdoch as a major figure in British fiction."

The story takes place at a lay religious community located next to, and associated with, Imber Abbey, a closed order of Benedictine nuns. The community was founded by Michael Meade, a former school teacher who had also seriously considered entering the priesthood. Meade owns the land and the decaying great house. Over time the community has grown to include a motley collection of a dozen or so individuals that want to live a contemplative life, but not necessarily are ready to give up the world. Into this precarious community are thrown two catalysts. Dora, a young woman unhappily married to the older, domineering Paul. Paul is an art historian studying the Abbey's manuscripts and he has finally convinced Dora to rejoin him after a six-month separation. The other newcomer is Toby, a serious young man spending a few summer weeks in the community before beginning his studies at Oxford.

It is an excellent novel, the events of which are simply told with hints of the weird that is so prominent in The Sea, the Sea. Murdoch does an amazing job portraying the many characters and their struggles to live a moral life.

722. (Finished 06/30/2016) The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazán, pub. 1886



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "With this scabrous novel...Bazán achieved her best work and one of the peaks of Spanish naturalism."

A young Priest, Julián Alvarez, accepts a position at the decaying mansion of his patron's nephew, the House of Ulloa. Don Pedro Moscoso is an uncouth, uneducated nobleman whose only interests are hunting and earthy pleasures. he has allowed his house and his accounts to go to ruin, falling under the cunning influence of Primitivo, the estate's steward.

The book, at times is wonderfully descriptive and atmospheric -- a gothic Zola. But I read it at the wrong time -- I had no patience for the weakness and failings of all the characters and the unremitting, ever-worsening situation.

>147 ELiz_M: Ah, good old Better World Books. I have shopped Abebooks and Alibris in the past, and often their best deals come from Better World Books. I don't have NYPL (lucky you), but in the past I had the university library, which was very good for a lot of the older books. And my city public library is decent (even though I don't use it much).

I guess I what I was really wondering was if you had to go to heroic means to find your books. Others in this group have expressed difficulty or frustration at tracking things down in the past. I haven't had that problem just because I've only read 226, and have another 100+ on my TBR pile, so I'm not close to running out yet. And since I have no plans to read them all, I'm not too concerned about not finding any single book. But I was wondering how it was going for you, someone who is getting much closer. And now I know! thanks.

>155 Nickelini: The heroic effort will come when I want to read something like Under the Yoke, where there is only one copy in the system that can't be checked out -- it can only be read in the library:



;)

>156 ELiz_M: Okay, that sounds extremely tragic. BUT. Is this a picture of the library? And do you have access? If so, let me know full details, because I am moving so I too can experience this hardship and share it with you. I wonder if others would like to meet up for a bit of a book club?

ABE has several copies of Under the Yoke for reasonable prices (checked because I was curious). :)

But hey, if that is the library where I can go to read the book, count me in.

>157 Nickelini:, >158 Yells: Yes, that is a photo of The Rose Main Reading Room at the Schwarzman Building of the NYPL (The iconic one that has the lions out front). It's closed for renovations, but should open sometime in the fall. In theory, it is open to the public, but I think one has to request materials/reserve space ahead of time; I've not yet had the courage to try.

>157 Nickelini: You're moving to NYC? Or nearby? Excellent!

>159 ELiz_M: Do you think US immigration will let me in if I answer the question "Why do you want to move to the United States?" with "because I want to spend my days reading in the Rose Main Reading Room at the NYPL"? Also, what do you think my chances are of finding an affordable apartment in the Upper West Side? Because I'd need to be walking distance to the park. Other than those hurdles, I'm all in.

Donald Trump will let you in because you love New York and he lives in New York.

>161 EadieB:. Eew. You just made me shudder.

Ha ha! He's really not that bad. I can't figure out why people hate him so much. He employees many women and they get paid equally as if they were a man. He speaks his mind and is not as prejudice as people think. He just wants what's best for America. Hillary, the woman's candidate, pays women 80% less than men on average and is totally corrupt and a big liar.

>163 EadieB:. Just wow. Okay, conversation over. It would just be rude to continue it on Eliz_M's thread any further.

oh that library is just wonderful! thanks for posting the pic.

I thought you might find this recent article about The Bell interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/aug/11/books-to-give-you-hope-t...

This novel actually rescued Iris Murdoch for me. After starting with Under the Net which I really didn't get on with, I was looking with foreboding at all the Murdochs on the list. The Nice and the Good left me unsatisfied. But now after reading The Bell, The Sea The Sea and the equally brilliant The Black Prince, I can't wait for the next one!

>166 arukiyomi: Great article! Haven't read The Bell yet but looking forward to another Murdoch!

>166 arukiyomi: Thank you - that was a lovely article. I often seem to accidentally start with a novelist's best book first. I loved The Sea, the Sea and then was charmed by The Bell and am now left with Under the Net and A Severed Head.

Just to show that I am still reading, I am going to post links to some partial book reviews:

Book 4 of 6, review is in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):


The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, pub 1921
Finished 7/01/2016

.

Book 1 of 4, review is in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):


A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement by Anthony Powell, pub 1951
Finished 7/10/2016

>168 ELiz_M: don't forget The Black Prince!

no don't! It's great!

I am (mostly) reading from the 2008 List, so I did forget about The Black Prince. Perhaps I'll substitute it for an McEwan or Coetzee book.

723. (Finished 08/09/2016) The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati, pub. 1940



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...this mysterious and disquieting novel.... Strongly existentialist in its themes, the novel remains elusive today...."

I found this story of Giovanni Drogo and his unexpected lifetime spent at a remote garrison on the edge of Italy's "Tartar Steppe", to be a quiet, lovely read. Some have described it as Kafkaesque, but Drogo was to passive and accepting for the novel to have the nightmarish qualities I associate with the term. The simple language and the descriptions were rather charming. I loved the gentle foreshadowing, even if the events foreshadowed were not quit as mysterious as expected. I have to admit I wish the story had ended earlier, at the moment that clearly echoed the beginning. I found the actual ending...anti-climatic and irritating; Drogo's attempt to force an uplifting interpretation on a rather mundane, useless end was irritating.

724. (Finished 09/02/2016) A Woman's Life by Guy de Maupassant, pub. 1883



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...this story is the inverse of Madame Bovary.... A Seminal work of naturalism, {it} is also the cruel story of life's traps and pitfalls.... Maupassant criticism of marriage,...of emotive women, and the downright pessimistic outlook of the story, show Schopenhauer's decisive influence on the so-called naturalist or determinist ideas of the time."

As indicated by the title, the novel tells the story of Jeanne Le Perthuis des Vauds, a country aristocrat, from the time she left her convent education to her old age. The story is lyrically told in unornamented language through the use of an omniscient narrator. The events of her life are distilled and clarified as befitting a shortish novel. The result is that the reader is well aware motives/events that Jeanne is not and it becomes a painful to read how willfully naive she is and how accepting she and how mistaken she is.

725. (Finished 09/07/2016) The Music of Chance by Paul Auster, pub. 1990



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...Auster explores the concept of freedom itself and whether self-determination is necessary or sufficient to achieve it."

John Nashe is a 30-something recently single father. His job as a firefighter doesn't allow him to care for his daughter so he leaves her with his sister's family. One day Nashe receives an unexpected inheritance, allowing him to quit his job and live perfectly free, aimlessly, numbly driving around the country until a chance encounter changes everything.

This novel did not encourage me to think about free-will versus fate as maybe it should have. Instead I was carried along by Nashe's restless movement, vaguely knowing where the story was headed and curious to see how it got there. I love Paul Auster's odd novels; he has a remarkable ability to portray a completely unbelievable scenario in a perfect realistic way...it seems so normal, and yet is so not. Also, as a native Minnesotan I enjoyed it's brief appearances in the novel.

726. (Finished 09/21/2016) Platero and I by Juan Ramon Jimenez, pub. 1917



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "....Few works of Spanish letters are so clearly associated with the aesthetic enjoyment and the ethical imperatives: morality and beauty."

I mistakenly thought this slight book with its delightful illustrations would be a quick read. It was not. The book is composed of 138 chapters, each only a page or two long. And each is an exquisite description of a single event in the day of the narrator and his little donkey Platero. Some chapters are descriptions of a moment of great beauty, others are stories distilled down to the barest elements told purely. While the work is lovely, the complete lack of narrative, even though beautifully described, just did not hold my attention.

727. (Finished 09/30/2016) Crash by J. G. Ballard, pub. 1973



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Ballard's novel, 'the first pornographic book dominated by twentieth-century technology,' is an exception within an exceptional body of work.... The novel remains classic Ballard: the shocking insights are unerring, the perversions intensely sane and personalized."

The narrator, a film / commercial producer living just outside an airport, has just been involved in a head-on collision that left the driver of the other car dead and himself and the deceased's wife badly injured. His experience awakens in him an compelling, perverse interest in car accidents and crash survivors. He encounters and then falls in with Vaughan, another crash survivor whose obsession with accidents and sex mesmerizes the narrator, drawing him deeper into Vaughan's off-kilter world.

This novel is unlike anything else I have ever read and I certainly understand its inclusion in the list. This is not something I would recommend to anyone and is especially one to be skipped if easily affected by violence, sex, or graphic language. Ballard can be a powerful writer and the novel pulled me along even though I generally found it, ahem, impenetrable.

>177 ELiz_M: I was thoroughly held by Crash but I agree that it's a book I would recommend to no one.

how does it compare to American Psycho?

>179 arukiyomi: I read American Psycho too long ago to offer any sort of useful comparison. But I don't remember being baffled by AP the way I was by Crash.

728. (Finished 10/15/2016) Thais by Anatole France, pub. 1890



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Written in a dreamy evocative style the novel merges the exotic atmosphere and excitement of the historical romance with a philosophic exploration of the effects of trying to renounce desires in favor of spiritual salvation"

In 4th Century Egypt, the young Thais is a beautiful child, generally neglected by her impoverished parents and mostly raised by an African servant, but after his death must fend for herself. As she grows into a beautiful woman, she, and those around her, exploit her beauty to gain at first the means of survival and then to garner great fame and wealth. Paphnutius formerly a dissolute youth of Alexandria has found solace and peace as a monk in the desert until one day a vision convinces him to return to Alexandria to convert the eminent courtesan Thais to Christianity. It doesn't end well.

The novel is divided into three parts -- the first section focuses on Paphnutius, his monastic life and eventual journey into Alexandria. The second section encompasses his experience in the city and the conversion of Thais. The final section is the aftermath of the conversion of Thais. The novel is affecting and at its best when centered on the main characters and their struggles with morality and Christianity. Unfortunately, the conflict ideas of Christianity are also represented in interminable dialectics with an aesthetic in the desert and at a dinner party in Alexandria.

This short novel has been hovering in the middle of my TBR for quite some time. I originally became aware of the story due to the opera based on the novel. So it was a little disconcerting to read this picturing Renee Fleming....

Reading that novel in school was greatly improved by the surreptitious renaming of Paphnuce to Prépuce (in English, foreskin--yes, of the penis. Oh the chortling!) At least Massenet wisely opted for a much more dashing moniker of "Athanael". Still a major twit, however.

>182 LolaWalser: Ha! That is quite another take on the story...

A bunch of 14-year-old girls, surviving school by any means necessary... :)

I cam across Anatole France a couple of years ago when I read The Revolt of the Angels and so it was good to come across another review of one of his books. Decidedly off the wall I think.

729. (Finished 11/10/2016) Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, pub. 1969



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...In a sense, it is not a book with a story to tell, but rather one with a condition to portray.... In the end the book's real strength lies in the figure of Portnoy himself and the universality of his complexes and his humiliations."

Uh-huh. Not being Male, Jewish, or from New Jersey, I am not so sure about the "universality" of the complexes portrayed.

However, Roth is an excellent writer and the book has an amusing structure. The reader is dropped directly into Portnoy's head as he seems to be in the middle of recalling his past. Many pages later, the monologue seems to be address to Dr. Spielvogel (German for game bird, but I don't think that matters...?). Even though I don't at all identify with Portnoy, he (and Roth) do spin a good yarn. Almost good enough to overcome the uncomfortableness of the subject matter (masturbation, sexual frustration), but not quite good enough to overcome the distastefulness of Portnoy's (Roth's?) attitudes towards women and the sexual assault/attempted rape near the end of the book.

730. (Finished 12/30/2016) In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, pub. 1913, 1919, 1920/21, 1921/22, 1923, 1925, 1927



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "It has often been said that the importance of Marcel Proust’s novel lies in its pervasive influence on twentieth-century literature…. However, it is equally important that readers have enjoyed the extant to which the novel itself unfolds as a dialogue with its literary predecessors.

…the novel is, above all, a condensation of innumerable literary structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities.”

Although Proust had written and published a collection of poems and novellas in his twenties and was a regular contributor to a variety of literary magazines and a couple of newspapers, he did not devote himself to writing a novel until he was 38, when he started work on what was to become In Search of Lost Time (apparently much of his earlier writings were incorporated in his novel).

ISoLT was initially conceived as three volumes: Swann’s Way, The Guermantes Way, and Time Regained. But circumstances were to dictate otherwise. Proust had significant difficulties in getting Swann’s Way; finding it incomprehensible, it was rejected by many publishers, including Andre Gide (who later regretted the decision to not publish it) and eventually he self-published. The second volume (The Guermantes Way) was at the printer’s and a draft of the third volume (Time Regained) was complete in draft form when the war and paper shortage prevented further publications. Proust subsequently revised and expanded the novel into the seven volume novel known today. Proust reworked and revised each volume extensively before publication, but he did not live to complete his work – the last three volumes (The Captive, the Fugitive, Time Regained) were published posthumously. Even though Proust did not live to perfect his work, it is, of course, a stunning achievement.

I read Swann’s Way in 2011, and remember very little of the story regarding Marcel. And of course the Madeline moment which happens very early in the novel. Even knowing the importance of that moment in the context of the whole, I still wonder if it is so famous because it happens in the first twenty pages. But, I digress. With Swann’s Way I was lucky; it was the perfect time for me to read it. The novella in the middle, Swann in Love, resonated with me and I found it perfect. I read Within a Budding Grove two years later at a very stressful time and remember nothing of it. Finally, with the prodding of a goodreads group, I read the remaining four volumes this year.

ISoLT is wonderful and convoluted. And while appreciate that the writing is perfectly structured for how one thinks --- the Guermantes carriage noticed by Francoise segues into the sacredness of the servants’ dinner, to thoughts of Combrey, to the waistcoat maker, and so on -- the thoughts/associations are not mine and thus I am repeatedly annoyed that I still have no idea why a moment at the beginning of the passage is mentioned. Perhaps twenty pages later I would have the answer, having long-forgotten to expectation resolution.

There are passages of striking beauty, most of which take pages and pages to build and aren’t s lovely out of context. But here are two that struck my fancy:

“And behind a hanging curtain I came upon a little closet which, stopped by the outer wall and unable to escape, had hidden itself there shamefacedly and gave me a frightened stare from its little round window, glowing blue in the moonlight.”

“Some men walked lame and one knew it was not on account of a carriage accident but of a stroke and that they had, as people say, one foot in the grave. This was gaping for half-paralyzed women like Mme. de Franquetot who seemed to be unable to pull away their raiment caught in the stones of the vault, as though they could not recover their footing, with their heads held low, their bodies bent into a curve like the one between life and death they were now descending to their final extinction.”

The book is so expansive and complete, there are many, many depictions of love, of memory and a wide variety of themes are explored. It is difficult to not find a reoccurring motif that is of interest. I was fascinated by the depictions of how powerfully imagination enhances or distorts reality.

The point of view is difficult and shifting. The narrator is represented both by the young individual that is contemporaneous with the events and the older narrator looking back and commenting on events.

One of my guides to ISoLT discusses how Proust depicts a character in one novel and in the next deliberately portrays a different facet of the character that seems to be a contradictory aspect of him/her. I felt this most in Sodom and Gomorrah where it seems as if every character in the novel, and in Paris society, is an "invert". Perhaps they were. The narrator's return to Balbec opens with one of the most beautiful and devastating portraits of grief I have read. Truly stunning. Also, this volume is where, for me, it begins to feel like a novel -- the previous volume ended with what passes as a cliff-hanger and this volume resumes the story and as there is also some heavy foreshadowing, this volume seemed to have momentum.

More so than the other volumes, The Captive & The Fugitive is exclusively, excessively in the narrator' head -- we only see Albertine through his eyes, his reactions to her. In order to prevent her from indulging in her "vices", he compulsively watches over her, giving up almost all social interactions and all other interests. The astonishing beauty of In Search of Lost Time is found in Proust's ability to perfectly describe an individual experience in a manner that resonates universally. But the narrator's awful, controlling, neurotic relationship is utterly alien to me. It's creepy, and not told with an ironic difference as done so well in Lolita. (See the paragraph above about the publication of ISoLT for why this might be the weakest volume of the novel).

And finally, Time Regained. I found this to be the most gorgeous volume of ISoLT, as it is largely devoted to the exploration of the nature of time and memories. The entire scene in the Duke’s library, where the narrator ponders the role of art is, again, perfect.

I have to admit that on this read, I am just a tourist, trying to read for plot and just barely scratching the surface of the complex themes and motifs presented. As such, I can recognize that the writing is brilliant and yet still be completely bored by some of the long, seemingly pointless, digressions. But hopefully I have prepared the ground for a future, more in-depth read, for this is a work where Nabokov’s quote, “one cannot read a book: one can only reread it,” truly applies.

>187 ELiz_M: Congratulations on finishing Proust! It's good to know that it is actually possible and an inspiring review as well. I read Swann's Way last year and plan to read at least one more volume this year.

Your review really captures the feeling of Proust very well. The digressions are awe-inspiring and beautiful but the lack of plot can be annoying. I also remember Swann's love affair the best because it's the part where there actually is a plot.

>187 ELiz_M: What a review to start the year with! Congratulations on finishing Proust. Your thoughts encourage me to start as well.

>187 ELiz_M: Yes, congratulations!! Perfect timing for me to read this review as I'm just embarking on this reading adventure. I enjoyed the personal reactions that you shared in this review. Sounds like you envision yourself making the time to reread it at some point?

I really enjoyed reading your review of Proust. I haven't read the book yet - but your review certainly moves it higher up my reading list.

>188 Henrik_Madsen:, >189 Simone2:, >190 japaul22:, >191 Jan_1: Thank you all!

Technically it should have been the last review of 2016, but it took a couple of days to compile the notes scattered over various LT and goodreads posts. I do encourage you all to read the whole thing, skimming where necessary. It is difficult, but I think worthwhile. And not just to say you did it (although that is a nice feeling, too!)

I will probably re-read this novel someday. But that day is many, many years in the future, likely in retirement or at another point in life where I can spend more time with it.

Congratulations on finishing Proust! I remember feeling accomplished, pleased, and a little relieved when I was done. :)

>193 ursula: A rather belated thank you.

731. (Finished 1/16/2017) In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, pub. 1968/1978



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "It is the great merit of The First Circle that the characters...never become pure mouthpieces, but are given to the reader as full and complex human beings inhabiting their own interconnected worlds."

This novel, which takes place during Stalin's rein is set in a privileged Gulag. Chronologically, the events take place over a few days, a week prior to the Christian Orthodox Christmas. The huge novel explores the story of dozens of prisoners, the citizen-workers of the Gulag, their family members, and even Stalin himself.While those in the Gulag describe it as the first circle of the broader hell of the penal system, another character outside states that Russia is the first circle and everything else is outside it and "other". These two circles defining and categorizing the structural of the world underpin much of the philosophizing by many of the characters.

I would love to be able to comment more on "what the novel is about", but I don't really know. This novel just did not work for me. I read it very slowly over many many weeks, never more than a few chapters at a time, and just could not muster enough interest to differentiate the individual prisoners, let alone maintain the themes/details supporting the story arc. I should not have read it over the busy, exhausting holidays in the gloom of winter and I really should have read the introduction and had a basic understanding of the structure before reading it (contrary to my usual blind reading). So, please do not let me dissuade you from reading this monumental novel; I am fairly certain it is a case of "it's not you, it's me".

732. (Finished 1/23/2017) Eline Vere by Louis Couperus, pub. 1889



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "In the spirit of Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Wilde, Couperus uses psychological realism to investigate the constant longing that threatens to consume the subject."

First of all, DO NOT READ THE SYNOPSIS in the 1001-book as it contains major spoilers.

After slogging through In the First Circle this was a delight to read. Eline Vere is a young, charming, modestly wealthy woman living in her sister's household in the Hague. Her life is composed of visiting neighbors and relatives, balls, opera, and singing lessons. She is young and pretty and admired by most of the men and older ladies in her set. Yet, Eline isn't happy. She suffers from nerves and longings and reality doesn't quite live up to her daydreams. She falls in and out of love, each time the disillusionment is stronger and her outlook bleaker. Her temperament and circumstances are contrasted with the others of her set: Paul has artistic tendencies but no drive to carry anything through, Etienne the perpetual student spends more time socializing than studying, steady Otto smitten with the wrong woman, Frederique too confident and headstrong to admit she loves a fop, Marie deeply in love with a man who loves another, young naive Lili strains all propriety in her her pursuit of happiness, and many others.

In many ways, this novel feels like an expanded Pride and Prejudice, but it is not so smooth and charming and not all the characters have a happily ever after. The novel encompasses so much of life that the story doesn't have a tight, cohesive arc. Just when I thought I knew where the story was going it went somewhere else, which I enjoyed. Couperus reveals the characters' complexity slowly and I found myself changing allegiance from chapter to chapter as a favored character is shown in an unfavorable light. The middle did drag a bit, but overall it was an engaging read.

Also, I really liked my physical edition, published by Archipelago Books. It is a nice presentation and I really appreciated that there was no introduction but an afterword instead.

>196 ELiz_M: I am glad to hear that you liked it so much. I did too and I also thought of Austen while reading it. Beside, I liked the idea that is was originally published as a feuilleton.

733. (Finished 2/2/2017) Gösta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf, pub. 1891



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The wish to capture a golden age is offset by an interest in the nature of memory and reality. The novel is written in an old-fashioned allegorical ans slightly mannered style, but the beginning, ...anticipates the modern novel in its intense focus on the human mind."

Gösta Berling had been a priest in a remote village before he took to a life of wandering. He still has a gift for speech and manages to captivate many of the people he encounters. In one small town, he is manipulated into staying put for a time and he joins a loose-knit group of cavaliers. The novel depicts the events of one year as Berling generally, innocently, disrupts the lives of those around him.

I still do not know what to make of this novel. It has an odd construction -- a vignette that is interrupted by pages and pages of beautifully rendered descriptions of nature and then the chapter continues with a different character/circumstances. The whole thing has a dreamy unreal quality and without the introduction, I would not even have realized that the events portrayed took place in a relatively short time span. While some images remain vivid, I am mostly left feeling perplexed.

734. (Finished 2/4/2017) Under the Net by Iris Murdoch, pub. 1954



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Under the Net captures the exhuberant spirit of freedom in postwar Europe.... Beneath the surface of the fast-moving narrative lies a wealth of philosophical questioning"

Jake Donaghue is a familiar character -- one of those people that lives in the moment, never with enough money or a job or a plan, ricocheting from circumstance to event, getting by with charm and the help of friends. A hapless translator and dilettante writer, Jake has just been kicked out of his free lodgings. His search for a place to crash and enough money to pay for it precipitates a series of madcap adventures involving a handful of conspiracies, a love...quadrangle?, and an amazing series of coincidences.

Murdoch is a brilliant writer even in this early novel. The story is highly entertaining and a quick read, but it lacks the depth and the wondrous strangeness of her later works.

ETA: I rarely comment on covers, and while I like this one quite a bit, I'd be much obliged if someone could confirm if the novel had anything at all to do with cats. The movie-star dog I remember (major plot lines are hard to forget), but cats....?

>198 ELiz_M: Glad I am not the only one who is not that enthusiastic about Gosta Berling's Saga. I felt a bit lost and uncertain after finishing it.

>199 ELiz_M: Good to know of another good Murdoch. I won't have too high expectations though after your review, which is good because I would have otherwise.

Maybe it's a visual play on the character of cats and how they relate to the people portrayed in this novel?

735. (Finished 2/18/2017) At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill, pub 2001

Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



A well-written coming-of-age story, both of the protagonists and the country.

Finishing a book by Javier Marías made me realize that I had completely forgotten to record one of his earlier works (with the same protagonist) as read on LT and never reviewed it:

736. (Finished 7/12/2015) All Souls by Javier Marías, pub 1987

737. (Finished 3/31/2016) Your Face Tomorrow, Volume 1: Fever and Spear
(Finished 10/26/2016) Your Face Tomorrow, Volume 2: Dance and Dream
(Finished 2/27/2017) Your Face Tomorrow, Volume 3: Poison, Shadow, and Farewell

Reviewed in various threads (click the pictures to read a particular volume's review):

. .

Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Even without the projected third volume..., the first two installments of this massive work...are enough to confirm the literary ability of a writer created in the magisterial mold of Juan Benet.... Without leaving the central themes of his novel,...Marías has opened new imaginative areas in his novels."

This novel, published in three volumes, is a brilliant blend of a spy novel with a Proustian stream-of-consciousness inner monologue. The story is narrated by Jaime/Jacques/Jacobo/Jack Deza. Escaping a crumbling marriage, he has left Spain for London where he is recruited to work for a shady organization, ostensibly part of Britain's intelligence community, as an interpreter of personalities. Deza has a unique talent for perceiving how an individual is likely to act in future situations; he sees the face they will show the world tomorrow. Interwoven with his present day to day work are the ponderings and recollections of his past, his father's past role in the Spanish Civil War, and then when forced to witness and participate in a terrifying act orchestrated by his boss, his reflections begin to focus on the morality of power and terror.

The work is labyrinthine and intelligent and fascinating and slow-going. It really is a single, and singular, novel. I, unfortunately, read it over a long stretch of time with large gaps between the volumes, which was detrimental to my understanding and enjoyment of the whole. If I had read all the volumes as a single work, I probably would have found it to be an extraordinary work. As it is, I found the first volume hard-going, the second absolutely brilliant and gripping, and the third a bit more meandering.

Wow - nearly at the 3/4 mark! I am very impressed that you post such detailed reviews, certainly has helped me decide whether to a read book more than once!

sounds fascinating Eliz_M. Looking forward to this one as I work through all the doorstoppers...

>205 soffitta1: Thank you! I really don't enjoy writing reviews and tend to procrastinate as long as possible, so every encouraging comment is much appreciated! :)

>206 arukiyomi: I hope you enjoy it; I would love to read your thoughts on it. I was posting in another thread that reading Proust taught me how to read this novel -- the second volume takes place in a single evening, but the inner monologue and remembrances cover a lot of time. I'm not sure if that is more encouragement or some dissuasion.

>204 ELiz_M: Interesting! I've never heard of this one. As I'm reading Proust now, I'll definitely wait a few years to try it, but it sounds worth the investment in time and concentration. Thanks for the tips on how to read it!

>208 japaul22: I hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it!

738. (Finished 3/31/2017) The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell, pub. 1978



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Quietly and humorously critical of the conventions and ideologies of empire, Farrell anticipates a style of postcolonial writing that came to be embodied by authors such as Timothy Mo and Salman Rushdie"

Set on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Singapore during WWII, the novel focuses on the owners of the largest, wealthiest rubber manufacturing firm in Singapore, Blackett and Webb. Blackett, the middle-aged co-founder of the company is desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the changing, disintegrating economy while worrying about the lack of business sense and occasional inappropriate behavior of his son Monty and trying to marry off his too clever daughter, Joan. Matthew Webb, the idealist heir of the recently deceased co-founder of the company, has arrived amidst the turning point of the society and bewildered, tries to understand the business and culture in a world changing faster than he can comprehend it.

There is a fabulous 320 page book in here somewhere. Mostly it was a slog; history lectures thinly disguised as a novel. In reality, a French diplomat is not going to ruminate, in perfect paragraphs, on the fall of Saigon in comparison with the present predicament of Singapore while playing tennis. Walter Webb, the main narrator for the first several hundred pages is boring. The novel does not become interesting until the final third when the Japanese invasion begins and the characters are forced to act and the author has to drop the tedious display of research. Two stars because is is obviously well-written (in the non-textbook bits) and some of the characters are marvelously drawn.

I've just finished this myself (post 202) - I started it before you did but it took me a little longer. The edition I got out of the library was large, bulky and heavy. It was awkward to read in the bath which is where I do a lot of my reading so it was mostly a 'bed before sleeping' book instead. Until the last 200 pages when it became a 'bed before lunchtime' book because I couldn't put it down and refused to get up until I'd finished it.

http://arukiyomi.com/?p=135

very similar to my thoughts ELiz_M although my final rating was a bit more generous!

Have you read the other two in his Empire trilogy?

>212 arukiyomi: I have a very low tolerance for non-fiction/textbooks and finding history lectures in my fiction is rather irritating. I have read the other two books in the trilogy, I enjoyed Siege (>50 ELiz_M:) the most.

That is an old review! I miss the spider-web rating style.

739. (Finished 4/11/2017) Spring Torrents by Ivan Turgenev, pub. 1872



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The tone of Spring Torrents is perfectly poised between bitter regret for youth's lost passions and ironic awareness of their largely illusory quality.... Turgenev's theatrical treatment brings to the foreground the affair's predictable and almost absurd aspect."

Young Dimitry Sanin, upon inheriting money, goes on a Grand Tour of Europe. He has managed his money and journey well and in his final stop, Frankfurt, has just enough for his journey back to his estate. He walks into a sweet shop, in time to assist with a minor family emergency and falls hopelessly in love with the daughter of the shop-owner. He wins her heart, and her hand, but must sell his Russian property in order for them to have money on which to live. In doing so, he falls under the spell of the wealthy Maria Nikolaevna Polozov to whom he hopes to sell the estate.

I found this brief novella completely charming (missing the ironic awareness altogether). It has a frame story, so the reader is alerted to the outcome of the romance; I enjoyed the description of a first love and appreciated that the frame story included a coda, allowing the reader closure.

740. (Finished 4/16/2017) The Left-Handed Woman by Peter Handke, pub. 1976



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "This novella, a story of existential crisis narrated in spare, icy prose, is a fine example of Handke's rigorous Modernism.... The {narration} avoids descriptive detail and inner monologues, and translates the characters' inner confusion into a disjointed dialogue ad awkward silences."

There is something quite alluring and elusive about this novella. I actually read it twice the same weekend and still felt as though I missed something. Composed of disconnected vignettes, there is not much plot -- a woman's husband returns from business trip, she asks him to leave her, the woman both breaks apart and holds herself together. The reader is held at a distance from the action and characters and is only shown brief glimpses. The fascination is in the effort to fill in the missing pieces.

>214 ELiz_M: Spring Torrents arrived here yesterday, so your positive review is both timely and welcome.

741. (Finished 4/16/2017) Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann, pub. 1947



Why it is included in the 1001 list: ".... Particularly brilliant are Mann's meditations on the evolution of musical theory over the the course of the 19th and 20th centuries.... Also in strong evidence is Mann's preoccupation with the ruthless demands of creative life.... The novel's major achievement is its eloquent synthesis of complex ideas on art, history, and politics, as well as its elaborate meditation on the relationship between the artist and society."

I have been avoiding commenting on this novel for over a month. After a six-week struggle, it was such a relief and sense of achievement to have finished it that I just couldn't think about it. Reading this novel is work. For me it took effort and concentration to make my way through the dense, erudite prose. And while I didn't exactly enjoy the experience, I am grateful I read the novel.

The subtitle, "The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as told by a friend", gives the basic plot. Mann interweaves two timelines -- the narrator, a childhood friend and devotee of Adrian, begins writing Adrian's biography on May 23, 1943 and frames each chapter with the current events that are interposing themselves on his ability to narrate Adrian's story, which spans turn-of-the-century Germany through the midst of WWII. This meta-fictional structure strains the limits to which belief can be suspended. The nature of the relationship between the narrator and Adrian is odd, very very odd, leading to all sorts of speculation about both -- is the narrator a fascist, a homosexual, the representation of Mephistopheles? Is Adrian a genius, a sociopath, or perhaps even imaginary? For the first third of the novel I could not help but compare the characters to the BBC Watson (M. Freeman) and Sherlock (B. Cumberbatch). But imagine that devoted friendship of Watson's lasting from age childhood to middle-age; it does not seem natural!

And then there is the music theory. The fin-de-siecle was an astonishing time in art, literature, and especially music. The romantic period ushered in by Beethoven is waning, as is his influence. Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini are composing some of their greatest works, as Wagner is revolutionizing Opera, allowing new forms of musics are being devised by Mahler, Debussy (Pelléas et Mélisande), Strauss (Salome), Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring). Adrian comes of age during this period (his character is largely based on Schoenberg and Adrian is depicted as devising the twelve-tone system) . He shows an early aptitude for music, but perceives of it as a game, an intellectual exercise. Thus the early chapters are devoted to the lectures and music theory in which Adrian is grounded, even though he is determined to study philosophy and theology at university. For most people, the music theory is a slog:

From the New York Review of Books" "Mr. Mann's knowledge of music is fabulous and his ability to make the imaginary compositions of his hero seem works of genius is phenomenal. However, anyone who has not been graduated from the Julliard School of Music, written a symphony or conducted the New York Philharmonic is certain to find the musical sections of 'Doctor Faustus' nearly impenetrable."

It should have been impossible for me as well (I have failed, on multiple occasions, to read The Rest is Noise), but working in a performing arts organization encouraged me to really read these sections, not just skim over, and that we happened to be rehearsing one of the Beethoven pieces discussed at length while I was I reading that chapter didn't hurt. In the end I spent considerable tracking down various compositions through the library and compiled a 13 hour Leverkühn playlist, which will be my companion someday in the future when I re-read this novel.

In the end, what pulled me through the novel was the writing; the awareness of Mann's brilliance and the occasional spot-on turn of phrase. I was fascinated by the narrators depiction of and ambivalence about the German character and psyche, his belief that Germans deserved the punishment they were receiving at the hands of the allied forces ""...I share the sense that we are only getting what we gave, and if our atonement should be more terrible than our sins, then let our ears ring with the dictum that he who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind" and also the despair and horror at the devastation wrecked upon his homeland.

And of course, the reprise of the Faust legend and the rumination on the nature of evil that ensue are quite engaging. Like I said above, I did not enjoy reading this novel, but I deeply appreciate the stimulation -- the desire it fostered to learn and the discovery of more music.

Superb review and I'm glad that I didn't read it earlier; it seems as though this book requires intense concentration and focus. I'll need to be 'in the right mood' for this one.

great review. I dug out my own from back in 2012. It was funnier than I remembered...

http://arukiyomi.com/?p=3426

I also thought the last line of the novel might have been Mann consoling his readers: "God be merciful to thy poor soul, my friend"

>217 ELiz_M: Great review! I'm interested in reading more Thomas Mann. All I've read so far is Buddenbrooks which, as his first, seems so "straight-ahead" and conventional compared to the rest of his work. I really loved it so I'm both excited and nervous to move on with his work! I think he's one of the few authors on the list where I might make an effort to read his list books in order.

>217 ELiz_M: Great review. I have been postponing this one, although I enjoyed some of his other works (especially The Magic Mountain). You're review is very encouraging, although I agree with >218 M1nks: that it seems to require concentration and focus.

>219 arukiyomi: I did read your review a while back, in the middle of of my read. I loved this paragraph:

"First of all, it helps to be familiar with the Faust legend. I’m not. Then it helps to be familiar with musical theory. I’m not. Failing that, it helps to have an appreciation of classical music at some level. I don’t. At the very least, you should have some interest in the demise of Nazi Germany. Aha! A hit, a palpable hit."

>218 M1nks: Yes, it definitely helps to find a slower time in other-life when reading this one!

>220 japaul22: With your music background, you might enjoy this one more than I did! It is definitely denser than Buddenbrooks and Death in Venice.

>221 Simone2: I am actually more intimidated by Magic Mountain -- I have an interest in and some familiarity with Faust legends, so this appealed to me more. Now you've encouraged me to get to TMM sometime soon!

I'm currently reading The Magic Mountain with a book group. So far so great!

Magic Mountain is a far far easier read but, funnily enough, as complex as my rating process was, both books scored exactly the same 55%!

742. (Finished 5/17/2017) The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani, pub. 1963



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "This novel of corrupted innocence and blighted talent and opportunity is also an indictment of ordinary citizens too blind to see the threat of creeping authoritarianism and prejudice."

This novel begins with the end. The narrator, encountering the Finzi-Continis mausoleum, first tells us their fate and then recounts his relationship with the family many years earlier in 1930s and 1940s Ferrara, Italy.

The wealthy Finzi-Continis children were kept apart by their worried mother, tutored privately and only appearing at school for examinations. The narrators fascination with the stems from these brief appearances as well as the few glimpses of the children in Temple. He details his one substantive meeting with Micòl, outside her garden walls as a young boy and then the story skips a dozen years or so. Alberto and Micòl invite a handful of acquaintances into the garden to play tennis, as they are no longer allowed to use the town facilities. The games become a daily ritual and the narrator falls deeply in love with Micòl, but she only feels friendship. While this unrequited love affair is the focus of the novel, the understated, small events in the background, and the known outcome add a layer of melancholy urgency to the novel.

This was not the novel I expected -- the politics of the time were not made explicit and the story ends before the real horrors begin. It is a sepia portrait of a time and place with a creeping shadow just visible at the edges of the frame.

743. (Finished 5/27/2017) Ashes and Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski, pub. 1948



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Jerzy Andrzejewski creates a vivid, cinematic portrait of Poland flung into chaos, morally stunned and economically shattered in the aftermath of liberation. Everyone is compromised: young people disillusioned and brutalized by war, the older generation implicated by the choices they made for survival... Meanwhile the occupying Red Army is the unseen elephant in the room, shadowing Poland's past, present, and future."

The novel weaves together many threads and many stories to create a sometimes compelling, sometimes muddled image of post-war Poland. Set in a few days in early May 1945, the story follows characters from many different political/social classes.

Communist Secretary Szczuka, expected to take an important role in forming a new government, has arrived in town on business, but he is also heart-broken by his wife's death in a concentration camp and he visits his formerly aristocratic sister-in-law as well as a concentration camp survivor while in town.

Maciej (Michael) Chelmnicki is a young man in the partisan resistance, tasked with assassinating Szczuka, but falls in love with a bar tender and looks for a way out of his political commitments.

Antoni Kossecki was a respected judge before the war and recently returned from a concentration camp where, unbeknownst to his family and anyone else, he became a camp orderly and Nazi-collaborator in order to survive. He is bound by moral moral quandary, unable to recover. His wife Alicja, bewildered by the changes in her family and her world, lives day to day finding the means to earn enough money to eat. Their eldest son, Andrzej, is Maciej's boss in the resistance and the younger son, Alek, has become involved with a brutal anarchist group.

Through these main characters and their interactions the novel creates a memorable, realistic snapshot of the enormous upheaval and uncertainty at this time. It is a engrossing depiction of events and politics of which I was unaware.

>225 ELiz_M: It is a sepia portrait of a time and place with a creeping shadow just visible at the edges of the frame.

What a great line and one that perfectly captures the tone of the book!

>227 aliciamay: Thanks!

744. (Finished 5/31/2017) Cataract by Mykhaylo Osadchy, pub. 1971



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "This is one of the seminal texts of Soviet underground literature of the 1960s.... Brilliantly written by an insightful writer, Cataract not only documents a specific historic situation but also an enduring proclamation of the human spirit in adversity."

An autobiographical novel that interlaces memoir and dreams to tell the story of the author's arrest for possessing and distributing dissident literature (although none of the witnesses examined admitted to receiving the literature from Osadchy). Osadchy, a university professor, was tried in secret with several other intellectuals and eventually sentenced to two years imprisonment. He was re-arrested a year after this book was published.

While I understand the novel's importance in denouncing the oppressive regime and how the unusual structure and the very fact of it's existence was influential on other Soviet writers, this book was not for me. If there is a plot, it is obscured in details and references that were written for a Soviet audience -- so enmeshed in the time and place that it might not make sense to one ignorant of it. There is not much in the way of characterization either. Rather the focus of the novel is more philosophical and allegorical. As the third prison memoir from the 1001-list that I have not enjoyed, I think I can safely say it is a genre that is not for me.

745. (Finished 6/04/2017) The Magus by John Fowles, pub. 1966



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel is steeped in Jungian ideas about the psychological. The overall effect is powerful, but ambiguous, interrogating ideas of freedom, absolute power, and knowledge, as well as the concept and experience of love.... the book's engagement with humanity's longing for transcendence in both art and life is fascinating."

Nicholas Urfe, a recent Oxford grad, is suffering from post-school angst. Educated and reasonably well off working as a teacher in London and gallivanting around town with a new girlfriend, he can't help but wonder "is this all there is?" So, he accepts a job at a English boarding school on a remote Greek island. There he meets an eccentric millionaire and life, finally, begins to get interesting.

Fowles is a very good writer and the construction of this novel is fascinating, layering twist upon twist upon plot twist into a realm of outright absurdity on the farthest edge of believability. It almost works. If I had read this at a younger age with the intense focus of summertime reading, when I was still very interested in pop-psychology, this book would have blown me away. Now, though, it is not quite as all-engrossing as it needs to be to carry the plot and the narrator doesn't quite have the depth necessary to immerse me in the story -- for the horror and confusion of his circumstances to become real to me.

Blew me away "at a younger age"! Now though, i think my experience might be similar to yours.

746. (Finished 6/25/2017) Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar, pub. 1951



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Yourcenar's achievement is the thoroughness of her research; it is easy to forget that this is fiction written in a philosophical style, its tone that of a man of action examining and evaluating his existence. {It} has been admired equally by scholars of classical antiquity as by arbiters of literary art..."

Structured as a letter to the young man Hadrian has chosen to replace himself as Emperor, this is a phenomenal work of study and imagination. Hadrian, suffering from a soon to be fatal heart problem is very concerned with his legacy and choosing the next ruler of the Roman Empire to continue the great works, both political and physical, that he has begun. It is a slow, meditative musing on his humanness -- the frailty of the body, the moral strength required to rule, the foibles that could lead a lesser man astray.

I was very much amused by the light in which Hadrian portrays himself and very impressed that Yourcenar stuck the perfect tone in this novel. But, ultimately, it wasn't my cup of tea.

747. (Finished 6/27/2017) The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas, pub. 1957



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Vesaas was the foremost exponent of the style called..."country language" or..."new Norwegian", as it was later known. Couched in completely believable dialog, The Birds describes highly charged relationships and experiences in a stunning primordial landscape."

Mattis and Hege are in their early forties. After their parents died, Hege took on the responsibility of caring for her "simple-minded" brother, living a monotonous life of endless knitting on the small landholding outside of a small town. Mattis is wholly dependent on his sister and aware of it. He tries to get work as a day-laborer on the neighboring farms, but without the constant support and company of other workers his mind gets muddled and he is unable to accomplish much. And again, he is aware of his short comings. The one thing Mattis can do well is to row. He decides, with Hege's encouragement, to work as a ferryman. Life seems poised to continue on, unchanging, forever. Until, of course, Jørgen arrives destabilizing the siblings' carefully balanced relationship.

As the novel is completely told from Mattis' perspective, the language is spare and deceptively simple. At times the author is able to present Hege's view by describing her reactions while also layering Mattis' interpretation creating a heartbreaking discrepancy. The end of the novel is left open, but one suspects that it won't be good.

748. (Finished 6/29/2017) Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre, pub. 1938



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Nausea is a rare thing in literary history--a 'philosophical' novel that succeeds in both its endeavors. The novel is at once a manifesto for existential philosophy and a convincing work of art. In fact, it succeeds to such an extent that it blurs the distinction between literature and philosophy altogether."

Antoine Roquentin, after years of adventurous travel all over the world, has settled into a French port town to write a historical biography. But a strange experience lifts a veil of reality and the doubt of it spreads into all aspects of his life, through the acquaintanceship with "the self-taught man" and the reuniting with his past love, to his every memory, every experience.

I have to disagree with the blurb above. I had little knowledge of humanism or existentialism before reading this book and can't say it has enlightened me -- I still have no idea what it is. I also found the writing to be uninteresting. Written as a diary, we are very much trapped in Roquentin's head and as he is not concerned with or interested in people, there is no character development. As it is structured as a diary -- written in the moment -- the narrator does not know what is happening, so there is not much in the way of plot development either. The only section that I enjoyed was Roquentin's meeting with Anny, his past love. In their well-developed dialog I almost cared about existentialism.

"I almost cared about existentialism." - is that dry wit intentional? ;-)

>235 arukiyomi: I wish! I am rarely that witty on purpose.

749. (Finished 6/30/2017) Matigari by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, pub. 1986



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...in weaving together allusions to recent Kenyan history with pre-independence ideals from the Gikuyu oral traditions, the novel creates a sense of loss and historical obligation alongside a characteristically sharp critique of post-independence Kenya."

I found The River Between by the same author to be a powerful novel and was really looking forward to reading this novel. So, I was a tiny bit disappointed to find that it was allegorical.

Set in an unnamed country at an unspecified time, the titular character has left the forest where after decades of struggle he has defeated his enemies. Matigari wants to find his people and bring them home. But he cannot find his family and the son of his enemy is living in his house. He is a sort of "everyman', but in the usual sense of it. Matigari at times speaks as if his deeds are the collective actions of all the people oppressed by the European colonizers. as if he is a composite of all the deeds of the people -- I built his house, I planted his crops, I built his factory -- more of a traditional Greek chorus, I guess.

Matigari travels far and wide asking stereotypical characters -- a government official, an old woman, a student, a priest -- where can a man find truth and justice. His search and his defense of the powerless reawakens the revolutionary spirit of the poor.

Eventually, as I became accustomed to the format and the almost ritual phrasing and repetition, I grew to like the story very much and found it a delightful read.

750. (Finished 7/1/2017) Inferno by Henri Barbusse, pub. 1908



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is an early modern example of the literature of alienated, disaffected manhood.... it still has the power to shock today; candid explicit, and full of philosophical musings, The Inferno is a fascinating insight into one mans inner struggle."

This is Barbusse's first novel and it shows. The writing at times is lovely and at others pedestrian. The narrator is living in a Paris boarding house and one day hears voices in the empty room next door. He eventually finds a hole, allowing him to look into the room next door and soon become obsessed with the god-like ability to witness what individuals believe is private. The situations were implausible -- the narrator manages to witness first love, adultery, a birth, and a death. The author was at his best when depicting the characters next door, but all too frequently, instead presents the narrators lengthy monologues on the ethics of what he is witnessing. I still want to know the full story behind one of the occupants why is a pregnant woman traveling with an older dying man (not her husband -- he proposes to, and marries, the young companion) and another young woman? How is she connected to them? In 1908, why is this not even raised as questionable? -- the narrator is content to remain a voyeur and never bothers to learn the backstory of the people. I also might have read this too fast, not paying enough attention. I missed the reason the book was titled Hell.

751. (Finished 7/9/2017) Fruits of the Earth by André Gide, pub. 1897



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "It would be easy to argue that {it} is not itself a novel, but in it Gide discovered at their barest some of the fundamental principles of novel writing, and in the relation between the narrator and his ideal reader - ... - he found a way of charging a work of fiction with a sense of urgency few writers have matched."

I find this work hard to review. It feel as if it begins in media res, with the narrator instructing Nathanial (who is Nathaniel? Why is the narrator addressing him?), but the book that begins as if a mentor is addressing a favorite pupil/companion raising expectations of a story of travels told in flashback, never takes on a narrative form. Instead snippets of random, rambling reminiscences and meditations on a particular taste, a particular sight of an oasis are described, interspersed with songs or poems.

Gide's writing, as always, is beautiful, but I did not connect with this at all. I should have understood what it was before beginning it and it should have lingered over, read in small sips while lying in a hammock in a meticulously tended garden or on a verandah with a gorgeous sea-view.

752. (Finished 7/11/2017) Solitude by Víctor Català, pub. 1905



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Víctor Català was aiming for the exact opposite {of fashionable literary writing}.... She came to favor the direct reality of the narrators voice, and was disinclined to sweeten the harshness of rural life by falsifying it.... Her work is the origin of a wealth of the idiom used in reflecting the morality of remote regions implacably subject to the superior laws of nature."

In this short novel, Català is able to depict the beautiful, harsh reality of living in a remote mountainous region. Mila recently orphaned is brought by her newly wedded husband to live in a hermitage as caretakers. She is befriended by Gaieta, a shepard that enchanted her with stories and folk tales about the landscape, teaching her to be independent and self-sufficient. Meanwhile, her lazy and spineless husband is wooed by a less wholesome character. The novel's simplicity is charming, which makes the crude ending that much more unsettling.

>240 ELiz_M: Interesting, thanks for putting it on my radar!

753. The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth, pub 1812
Finished 7/11/2017

Reviewed in my club-read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



A somewhat uneven novel, once past the extended opening sequence in London it becomes quite enjoyable.

754. (Finished 7/21/2017) Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac, pub. 1834



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...this novel combines convincingly drawn human characters with a sociological grasp of deeper changes in French society.... With a grasp of temporal cycles that prefigures Proust, Balzac dramatizes both the critical framework of individual actions and the wheels of generational change."

Eugénie's father values gold above all else. He worked hard all his life and through crafty calculation and determination has become rich. But he is so possessive of his money he cannot bear to part with any of it -- not even for daily necessities or upkeep of his house. Eugénie and her mother live a life of frugality bordering on poverty.

There is something about Balzac's writing -- it seems so clear, there is no feeling of undercurrents and deeper meanings, and yet he does illustrate broader themes. Perhaps it is because the tragedies are so ordinary. This tragedy is not a melodramatic, emotional uproar about Eugénie's future husband (it happens, but is not portrayed in that manner), but rather about the forces of life that shape Eugénie and slowly transform her into her father.

755. (Finished 7/28/2017) The Case Worker by György Konrád, pub. 1969



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel fuses sociological and literary concerns. The stark realism of physical, moral, and intellectual degeneration in cities is recounted in lyrical language. An advocate for individual freedom, Konrád was under a publication ban during the 1970s and 1980s."

This is an oddly structured book, depicting a single day of a social worker's life. At first it reads almost as a loosely connected bundle of short stories -- each case/visit as a stand alone episode. The repetitive monotony of the day to day tasks/visits is interrupted with musings (not exactly philosophical) on a larger scale -- pondering the eventual outcomes in broad strokes. And then there is the end of day visit to "the idiot child" Ben, whom the narrator is to take into custody following the suicide of his parents. Ben is a special, extreme case in misery and the limits of humanity. This is where the novel goes off the rails a little as the narrator imagines completely different scenarios.

I am not sure I would call the prose lyrical, but the style is unusual. There are no indications, really, of where the book is set. No reflections on communism or Hungary, per se. The author is not much on description; he uses a sort of rhythmic listing of objects to convey places, leading me to think of Budapest as terribly cluttered and dingy.

756. (Finished 8/03/2017) Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun, pub. 1917



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Growth of the Soil, which lead to Knut Hamsun's Nobel Prize win in 1920, strives for a plain and uncomplicated prose suitable to the simplistic lifestyle of the farming community it describes.... {It} evinces an almost romantic nostalgia for the slow- changing earthy lives of the rural wilderness..."

Growth of the Soil is an expansive story; it would be epic if the scope were not so focused. It is the story of Isak and his life-long struggle as a settler developing his land. Isak was the first farmer in a remote area, several hours walk from a small village. He clears the land, builds rudimentary structures, and increases the livestock. Realizing he needs help to care for the land and the animals, Isak asks some nomadic Lapps if they know of a strong woman that would be willing to help him. Months later Inger arrives. A strong, hard-working woman, she has suffered ostracism due to her harelip. The two are well suited to each other and as the farm becomes sustainable, almost profitable, the family grows as well.

The story continues, covering most of their lives, into the adulthood of their children. From one lone farm in the wilderness, a community begins to form. The story branches out to portray the different story of a Axel, a near neighbor, and the creation and failure of a mining concern on the mountain nearby. All told in a simple, matter-of-fact style. In structure, the book is more like non-fiction, narrating event after event of a life, The story arc is not traditional. What would be a pivotal event for Thomas Hardy takes place early in the novel and life continues on. It is mirrored in the second half of the book and somehow is still not pivotal or even all that life-changing. The story continues on in its understated depiction of the stoic settlers.

It is quite well-written, but even though it was probably a new direction in literature at the time, the style/technique does not impress now. It is just a quality family saga, well-told.

757. (Finished 8/12/2017) The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox, pub. 1752



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The Female Quixote is the forerunner of Northanger Abbey.... Lennox's exposure of the dangers of letting the imagination run wild does bring into question the 18th century practice of limiting women's education."

Arabella's widowed father left London to live as recluse on his rural estate. Arabella grows up in isolation from society, taught by various tutors and with more of her knowledge deriving from unrestricted access to her father's library. Unfortunately, the library contained a large collection of French romance novels, which she reads obsessively, believing they are true histories, and internalizes their social mores and as normal.

Arabella becomes a beautiful young women and as she is noticed by young men, in church and the rare acquaintance or relative invited to dine by her father, she behaves most peculiarly. She is astonished by their lack of chivalry and misinterprets the actions and intentions of almost every man in her sphere.

The merit of the book is supposed to be in the likeability of the main character, but I found it difficult reading. First, the story is rather repetitious and really how many times can a young woman be surprised at that the behavior of a young man is contrary from her expectations, doesn't surprise her relatives/companions, and not learn from it. I found it hard to like a character so persistently unable to observe and learn from those around her. Because, in Arabella's case, she is not supposed to be insane.

Second, Arabella is supposed to be a very gracious, intelligent, charming young woman. The author keeps telling us over and over that she is the model of perfection except for this one quirk. But the author never shows her as such; only the incidents where she is reacting in the manner proscribed by chivalrous novels are narrated. Also, if she is such a model of womanly virtues, why do so many misunderstanding arise out of her being rude to her elders and her guests -- why is she even allowed to interrupt her uncle, basically telling him to shut up, and refusing to listen to him?

And finally, it was hard to read this novel in these political times. I couldn't help comparing Arabella's persistent belief in a different worldview, brought about by a selective reading of history, to those at the political extremes today. I kept thinking of her in terms of, for example, those Americans that still believe that Obama was not born in the US, to those that listen to their niche media and for whom no amount of facts and proof will dissuade them from their beliefs or change their view of how the world works. Arabella is eventually brought around by a doctor that she didn't interrupt constantly and whom she allowed to demonstrate in the irrationality of her position and the illogical conclusions she had made. But I distrust this easy resolution.

758. (Finished 8/17/2017) Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, pub. 1970



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel is particularly noted for its adept dramatization of the spiritual and psychological theories of Carl Jung, who posits that we interpret the world through our recognition of archetypes: we all have our villains and our saints, and understand our role in relation to these."

Fifth Business is the life story of Dunstan Ramsey. He grew up in the small town of Deptford where a seeming trivial incident -- the throwing and subsequent ducking of a snowball that irrevocably intertwines the fate, and in many ways determines the life, of the four individuals involved in the incident. Ramsey ducked the snowball and forever carries the guilt of the immediate aftereffects -- he is the connection, the catalyst, the "fifth business" that influences the lives of the others.

The writing in this novel reminded me quite a bit of Irish Murdoch -- it is effortlessly excellent writing, a deceptively straightforward depiction of some awfully weird coincidences and events. The difference being that Davies, and his characters, treat everything as matter-of-fact -- nothing is weird within the world of the novel (unlike The Sea, the Sea). I kept expecting the characters or author to become aware of something magical or strange, which created an odd tension while reading the book. I am still not entirely sure how to think about it.

just picked up the Fifth Business in a charity shop recently so good to see it got 4/5 and reminded you of Murdoch who's one of my favourites. Hope I agree with you more on that one than Growth though.

For me the style of Growth of the Soil so redolently reflects Scandinavian culture and community and, as such, was the perfect medium for the saga, particularly in the way that conversations (if you can call them that) were written. Have you much experience of that culture?

>248 arukiyomi: I hope you get to Fifth Business soon, I'd love to read your thoughts.

I don't have much experience with Scandinavian culture per se. But growing up in the American Midwest (in an area settled primarily by immigrants from Norway, Sweden, and Germany), I have read my fair share of "farmer-settler" novels -- such as The Little House on the Prairie series, My Antonia, Giants in the Earth, The Land of the Burnt Thigh, and several others that I am not remembering. So for me, Growth of the Soil didn't seem new or unique. It is wonderfully written, just not dazzling.

759. (Finished 8/27/2017) Voss by Patrick White, pub. 1957



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The novel with which Patrick White first achieved international fame.... the most striking feature of this novel is its discordance, its unnavigable strangeness."

Strange is definitely a word I would use in describing this novel. Set in the mid-19th Century in Australia, it describes the journey of the German-born Voss into the heart of the unknown Australian wilderness. His journey, with the men he chooses to accompany him, and those that thrust upon him, is interspersed with the thoughts of Laura. Laura is the niece of one of Voss' backers whom Voss falls in love with and whom forms a psychic bond with him.

While the story is ostentatiously told form their points of view, the expression of there thoughts and emotions are somewhat obtuse. I never really understood them. I definitely did not understand the purpose of Voss' journey, nor why it was such a big, celebratory deal either. And yet, there is something visceral in the depiction of the journey, the land, the power dynamics between the men, and the will of Voss.

760. (Finished 9/15/2017) Pierre and Jean by Guy de Maupassant, pub. 1888



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is illustrative of a shift in both Maupassant's own work and in French literature generally; a shift away from the social realism typified by authors such as Balzac and Zola, and toward a greater concern with the fundamental workings of human psychology."

Pierre and Jean, brothers, have always had a little bit of friendly rivalry. Very different in appearance and temperament they will occasionally compete for the attention of a women, for example. Pierre, after changing studies a dozen times, has finally become a doctor and Jean, the younger brother has just completed law studies. They are staying with their parents in Le Harve, determining if they can make a living there. This idyllic time is interrupted by the news that Jean has inherited the fortune of a family friend.

This short novel is a brilliant study of jealousy and repressed emotions. It is mostly told form the point of view of Pierre, the elder son. At first he tris to dismiss his jealousy and be truly happy for Jean, but the reactions of a couple of individuals plants a suspicion in his mind that grows and grows tormenting him. In attempting to clamp down on his awful conjectures, the poisonous thoughts leak out in unpleasantness until, eventually, inevitably the family is destroyed.

I love Maupassant's writing, so clear and straight-forward. The story is wonderfully set-up and though Pierre's thought and behavior are ugly to witness, it doesn't ring false. However, the resolution may be a little too pat.

760. (Finished 9/17/2017) Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion, pub. 1970



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "This slice of 1960s abjection, written at the end of that decade, avoids moral lessons or resolution in preference for unadulterated exposure. It succeeds thanks to Didion's skill at creating character out of highly stylized sentences."

Maria is a purposeless, former actress. From a poverty-striking tiny town in Nevada she moves to New York to model and act, has a disastrous marriage, and runs away to Hollywood with a director. We are introduced to her through short chapters narrated by other characters before being immersed in her fractured dissolute world.

I am not sure what happens in the novel/in Maria's life. Events are alluded to, but not explained. But I did find the writing and the imagery hypnotic.

761. (Finished 10/8/2017) Bosnian Chronicle Ivo Andrić, pub. 1945



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is a far-reaching, dense, epic, and lyrical meditation on the history and condition of the author's homeland. On a more detailed level, it is a moving portrait of cultural misunderstanding and energy needlessly crushed and wasted."

Set in the town of Travnik, this book is in some ways the opposite of The Bridge on the Drina. It takes place in a seven-year period and is tightly focused on a few people -- the newly arrived consulates from France and Austria, and to a lesser extent there wives and households. But it is similar in the distance kept from the individuals -- after 437 pages I felt i knew as little about the consulates as I did about a single character in a vignette in Bridge. In the end, I am afraid the portrait of 'energy needlessly crushed and wasted' was all too well done. I dreaded picking up this book after oh-so-easily putting it down.



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762. (Finished 10/17/2017) The Last World by Christoph Ransmayr, pub. 1988



Reviews may or may not be forthcoming.

763. (Finished 11/1/2017) Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, pub. 1946



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764. (Finished 11/4/2017) A Dance to the Music of Time: Fourth Movement by Anthony Powell, pub. 1975

765. (Finished 11/4/2017) Back by Nikos Kazantzakis, pub. 1946



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766. (Finished 11/7/2017) Bebo's Girl by Carlo Cassola, pub. 1960

767. (Finished 11/14/2017) Contempt by Alberto Moravia, pub. 1954



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768. (Finished 11/16/2017) 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, pub. 1968

769. (Finished 11/27/2017) The Good Soldier by Ford MadoxFord, pub. 1915



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770. (Finished 12/18/2017) Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary, pub. 1960

771. (Finished 12/20/2017) L'Assommoir by Émile Zola, pub. 1877



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772. (Finished 12/24/2017) Legend by David Gemmell, pub. 1984

773. (Finished 12/31/2017) The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst, pub. 2004

774. (Finished 1/7/2018) Young Torless by Robert Musil, pub. 1906



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "The Beauty of Robert Musil's writing is its capacity to infuse the novel with a duality that allows events their stark brutality while simultaneously existing as anxieties, possibilities, desires, precisely as perplexities in Torless' mind."

This is a compelling, complex bildungsroman set at an elite boys boarding school in the beginning of the twentieth century. Torless, an introspective young boy, isolates himself in his emotions and inner experiences, never bothering to fit in. He eventually falls in with the more disreputable elements in the school -- Beineberg and Reiting. The boys discover the secret wrongdoings of another boy and instead of reporting it, they explore their new-found power, each boy testing the limits of their capabilities. Beineberg, tending towards religion and mysticism, tortures Basini, hoping to discover the seat of his soul. Reiting, the master manipulator, debases Basini while demanding absolute servitude. And young Torless, mostly an observer, exact the most painful punishment of all -- exploiting Basini's psychological state, trying to learn what makes him tick.

While the details of the plot are brutal, the experience reading it is not. The novel is situated deeply in Torless' consciousness and the reader is kept at a distance from the reality, seeing through a glass darkly as it were. The central focus is Torless' struggle to synthesize the factual world with the inexplicable.

"...he had suddenly cried out: 'Oh, how beautiful it is!' -- and then became embarrassed when his father was glad. For he might just as easily have said: 'How terribly sad it is.' It was the failure of language that caused him anguish, a half-awareness that the words were merely accidental, mere evasions, and never the feeling itself."

Torless has similar revelations at other moments of his life -- a sudden pure, but momentary, understanding of infinity, a simultaneous grasp of how imaginary numbers are both impossible and a necessary bridge in solving an equation, and so on.

I am not sure I fully understood this novel -- I have spent too many years in the mundane, rational world and am far less capable of the ecstatic state depicted in this deceptively short novel.

775. (Finished 1/17/2018) The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis, pub. 1986



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is regarded as one of Kingsley Amis's finest novels.... As always, Amis's understated realism and keen eye for the ridiculous minutiae of middle-class life produces a novel that occasionally makes for uncomfortable reading."

Charlie, Malcolm, and Peter have settled comfortably into retirement with their habitual routines and settled, if not altogether happy, relations with their wives. Until (of course there is an "until"), Alun, a former friend that left Wales for England and a TV career as a professional Welshman returns to Wales with his charming wife Rhianna.

It is a multiple perspective novel, with the reader seeing various events and situations from the view of each of the old men and most of their wives. And while I do not always enjoy satire and these rascally old men with all of their ingrained prejudices and sexism, Amis is so very good at capturing their vulnerabilities and willful, self-protective obtuseness, as well as their ridiculousness that, in the end, I was charmed and even, occasionally, empathetic.

RE-READ: Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin, narrated by Adam Lazarre-White, pub 1953
Finished 2/5/2018

The mastery of language and storytelling is visible here, but it is a less-than compelling audio book.

776. (Finished 2/6/2018) Underworld by Don DeLillo, pub. 1997



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Underworld offers a way of understanding our collective past. It excavates the arcane workings of our culture, articulating connections between the overt and the hidden mechanisms of state power. At the same time, its awed intuition of the unseen forces that continue to drive history toward redemption or annihilation looks forward to a new millennium."

Allrighty, then. I am not sure I got any of the aspects of the novel mentioned in the blurb above. What I got form this novel was a fabulous, freewheeling epic story.

Mostly centered around Nick Shay, Bronx born juvenile delinquent that has grown into an executive for an international waste company. His story, and the mystery of the crime he committed as a teenager, is interwoven with dozens of other story lines -- the fate of the baseball hit by Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds in New York City on October 3, 1951, dramatically clinching the National League pennant the Giants in the first ever televised baseball game, Klara Sax - an artist loosely represent the earthworks movement, Nick's brother Matt who could have been a chess prodigy and is now a reluctant nuclear scientist, Sister Edgar - an elderly nun still in the Bronx, and so many more.

There is something about DeLillo's writing that I love and that captivates me. I loved how the author created tension and continual questioning of the narrative by opening the novel with the final moments of a baseball game witnessed by a few real-life characters, thus keeping me guessing for the rest of the 900 pages how much was "real". I love that he is able to juggle so many mysteries and maintain my interest in discovering what happened to the baseball, what crime did Nick commit, what was his relationship with Klara, and so on.

I found it to be an enjoyable experience, partly because I was able to read large sections at a time and complete the whole within a few weeks. It is not a book that can easily be absorbed over a long period of time. Although the size of the book encourages one to read it electronically, I did appreciate having a paper edition on hand, because of how the different sections are visually separated.

777. (Finished 2/15/2018) Journey to the Alcarria by Camilo José Cela, pub. 1948



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Written in the third person and deliberately phenomenological in description, the frequent repetition of the rhetorical formula 'the traveler'...was an effective device to replace the first-person narrative."

A very short, non-fiction work, it is the publication of Cela's notes taken during a walking tour of the Alcarria region in Spain. Know for it's honey, it was not a tourist or vacation destination. Cela's object seems merely to interact with ordinary peolpe and to journey through an unknown region. The text comes off rather dry and matter-of-fact and I found it rather dull. I am not familiar with this area of Spain in the present tense, let alone as it was more than 70 years ago and Cela is not interested in shaping a world or creating a narrative. However, there are occasional glimpses of the excellent writing that characterizes his novel, The Hive.

>263 ELiz_M: I loved this one too. We seem to be one of few (at least I always come across negative reviews).

>265 Simone2: It's this month's group read:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/287889

Hopefully more people will read and enjoy it!

>266 ELiz_M: I hope so but it doesn’t look like it so far!

778. (Finished 3/2/2018) Blindness by Henry Green, pub. 1926



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...all of his novels are in some sense 'experimental'.... Green's first noel, Blindness, already reveals his fascination with language as a means of communication and his modernist desire to shape it anew."

Published when he was only 21, this slim novel as first seems disjointed and rough around the edges. But its unusual structure rather brilliantly reinforces the story. John Haye is a casually privileged and self-absorbed school boy when a freak accident robs him of his sight. His struggle to come to terms with his new life is depicted in several seemingly unconnected sections, narrated by several characters. Some of the descriptions of despair and of nature are stunning.

779. (Finished 3/8/2018) Democracy by Joan Didion, pub. 1984



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is an explicitly experimental novel and Didion's fusion of genres and literary devices gives a fascinating insight into both her creativity and the backrooms of American politicking."

The story is generally that of Inez Victor. A beautiful young women from a wealthy, renowned Hawaiian family, she becomes a model and later marries a college boy that goes into politics. Other fragments include her sister, her grown children, her husband's political handler, a C.I.A. operative, her uncle, and the author representative that narrates the novel. There is also an explanation of how difficult it is to shape this story and an explanation of what other novels it could have been. But most of all it is a rumination about how life lived in the public eye fragments and distorts reality.

This is a strange, wondrous story. M. McCarthy in the New York Times described it as a jigsaw puzzle, an apt analogy, as the story is presented one piece at a time. Each fragment is an image, a perfect moment, but they are presented out of order and repeated as a second piece elucidates an earlier piece. I am still not sure I understand the plot, such as it is, but the writing is so phenomenal that I don't care.

780. (Finished 3/15/2018) On Beauty by Zadie Smith, pub. 2005

Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Smith, loosely basing this novel on E. M. Forster's Howards End, also incorporates an academic satire, interrogates beauty and art, and touches on class and race and culture. It is a lot for one novel to accomplish and some aspects are more successful than others.

RE-READ: Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Persuasion by Jane Austen, narrated by Nadia May, pub 1818
Finished 3/15/2018

781. (Finished 3/25/2018) Shame by Salman Rushdie, pub. 1983



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "A daring blend of historical commentary, political allegory, and a fantastical fictional style that owes a stylistic debt to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Shame is a fitting successor to Midnight's Children, displaying the same capacity to comic excess, complex narrative, and biting political critique"

This novel is loosely based on Zulifikar Ali Bhutto and Zia al Haq and the politics of the new created Pakistan. After a wonderful, promising opening, I gradually lost interest in this satire of evets/people of which I am wholly ignorant and the writing, perhaps trying to adhere to a too specific sequence of events, never made the two opposing families distinct enough for me to remember which stunning images attached to which character name. I should have read this in tandem with some kind of cliff notes as a guide.

782. (Finished 4/17/2018) The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Marguerite Duras, pub. 1964



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "For psychoanalysts, the love triangle always contains rivals and can only be resolved by the elimination of one of them.... Duras's novel explores the possibility of moving beyond this: the possibility of maintaining desire without rivalry. In doing so, it offers its readers one of the most powerful anti-Oedipal myths of recent times."

The novel begins many years after the story. Lol is married with three children and has long since settled into a routine that approximates living. She becomes unsettled after the family moves back into her childhood home where at the age of nineteen, Lol's fiance became fascinated with an older women at a ball and jilted Lol. In her walks through the town Lol sees a familiar woman and is captivated by her and her male companion. She gradually realizes it is the friend that consoled her during the ball and her friend's lover. Lol's attraction to Jacques gradually displaces her earlier trauma as she insinuates herself into the Jacques' & Tatiana's relationship.

Stylistically, this novel reminded me very much of Democracy, especially in the cold depiction of characters and events and in the non-liner presentation with authorial asides. While interested, I was never absorbed and it did not leave much of an impression.

783. (Finished 4/21/2018) A Ballad for Georg Henig by Victor Paskov, pub. 1987



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is a bittersweet fable about love, love's failure, and the mesmerizing power of music.... Paskov ponders the question of how artistic and ethical integrity can survive in essential philistine societies."

Set in 1950s Bulgaria, the story is a loving obituary for Georg Henig, told by the now-grown Victor. When Victor was young, his family lived in poverty -- his father a musician and his mother did piece-work. His parents had many difficulties but agreed that Victor would be a child prodigy and so his father commissioned a small violin for Victor from Georg Henig. Victor and Georg became fast friends and as Georg, and elderly master craftsman declined, Victor and his family cared for him as best they could.

It is a charming story, told through a child's eyes, with an elasticity of time and hint of magic and naivete that is able to portray horrible events simply and without ugliness. But through it all shines the humanity and love of Victor and his family for their adopted relative Georg.

784. Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, pub 1985
Finished 4/23/2018

785. Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf, pub 1915
Finished 5/16/2018

Although there does not seem to be a smooth story arc or cohesive plot, there are passages of stunning beauty.

786. Reviewed in my Club Read thread (click the picture to read the full review):



Pastoralia by George Saunders, pub 2000
Finished 5/17/2018

Saunders is an incredible writer; these stories are so well-written that the despair and resentment of the narrators permeates the reading experience and (negatively) colored how I felt about the work as a whole.

>277 ELiz_M: Although I recognize this title I never realized that George Saunders, whom I only know from Lincoln in the Bardo, had written a book on the list as well!

>278 Simone2: I hadn't realized it either, until it showed up as a group read in JenP's 1001 goodreads group! If you do venture into his short stories, I thought Tenth of December was (mostly) brilliant. Pastoralia was not as good.

787. (Finished 5/30/2018) The Case of Sergeant Grischa by Arnold Zweig, pub. 1927



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is a multi-angled study of the social forces that perpetuate war.... Zweig's accomplishment as an author is to examine this complex system, almost scientifically, and o draw from his observations a tragic view of morality and human nature."

Grischa, a Russian soldier escapes a German prisoner camp, and is taken up by a group of outlaws. Eventually Grischa's homesickness overpowers his fondness for his new friends and the outlaws, to help him pass through the German lines, cloth his in the clothes of a German deserter. Grischa is re-captured and his new identity is not one that will save him.

A generally enjoyable book and a perspective of WWI that I have not seen before. The first section was structured wonderfully -- a scene shown from a minor character's view and then from Grischa's point of view; it was an effective way of adding tension to Grischa's ingenuous escape attempt. I thoroughly enjoyed the character of Babka, as well as Grischa's ruminations on the damage done by assuming another's identity. However, the many, many machinations of the various factions in the German armed forces and their use of Grischa's case in their power plays grew quite tedious.

788. (Finished 6/02/2018) Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, pub. 1977



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "...her subtle, gently humorous novels.... In 1977, her admirers...succeeded in attracting attention to the long-neglected novelist and {this novel} was published...to critical acclaim."

The quartet composed of four clerks that share an office: Edward, widowed, has taken up church activities, seeking out the "best" services in various establishments; Norman, a cranky old man that lives alone in a bed-sit; Letty, somewhat prim and proper, expects to share a country cottage with a widowed girlhood friend after retirement, and Marcia, an odd, unsociable woman living alone in the house inherited from her mother. The novel begins shortly before Letty and Marcia are asked to retire, demonstrating the routine of the four character's lives and the necessary changes retirement brings.

Pym quietly depicts the shabby, disconnected life in a contemporary society and how, despite society efforts, how easy it is to fall through the social/safety net. Yet, she also portrays the opportunities for growth and change. The writing is economical and not a word is out of place, just very well done. But, I could not get over the sense that I had read this before and I suspect it is too similar to her Excellent Women.

789. (Finished 6/12/2018) On the Heights of Despair by E. M. Cioran, pub. 1934



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Written at twenty-two years old.... This series of poignant ruminations functions as a stay in the narrator's seeming drive towards suicide.... {It} is tinged with a most unlikely humor that cherishes, above all, life's incomprehensibility."

Unfortunately, I found this work fairly incomprehensible. I do not enjoy "philosophical novels" and as a serious of short ruminations on various topics, there was far too much philosophizing and no plot. There were passages that I found beautiful -- the writing is excellent, but I was just not interested in reading a series of poetically phrased essays. I might have enjoyed it more as a book I dipped in and out of instead of trying to read it straight through.

790. (Finished 6/18/2018) A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines, pub. 1968



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "More lyrical than deadpan social reportage, more impressionistic than might be presumed,... Barry Hines's portrait of one teenager;s survival with the companionship of his kestrel singularly defies generic categorization."

Billy Casper has a typically tough life -- living in near poverty on an estate, a single mother with a roving cast of one night stands, an older, barely educated brother working in the mines, a nearly friendless school where he is ridiculed and bullied by teachers and students alike. But Billy has a unique love for nature and, after stealing a book on the subject, manages to capture a baby Kestrel (a falcon) and begin training it. Of course, given his circumstances, the story does not end well.

It is an engaging story, with both the gritty, unpleasant reality and descriptions of moments of stunning beauty Billy sees in nature. The people are skillfully captured and the details of the difficulty and skill and determination required to train a wild creature are presented seamlessly in the novel in Billy's voice. An excellent, sad read.

791. (Finished 6/20/2018) Indigo by Marina Warner, pub. 1992



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Novelist, literary critic, and historian, Marina Warner is a chameleon of the pen and Indigo derives from all these aspects of her interest."

In present day London, a young Miranda has just lost her status as her grandfather's favorite, when his second marriage produces a late-life daughter, Xanthe. The grandfather is a direct descendant of the British man that colonized the Caribbean island of Liamuiga, and Miranda's creole father and grandfather grew up there. Miranda's parents have a stormy relationship, both with each other and with money, and she has grown up to be an unsettled artist, vaguely moral, looking for her place in the world. Xanthe, the golden-haired child never wanted for anything, and has grown up into a calculating ice princess untouched by love. Both feel a connection to the island of the ancestors, in no small part to the the Caribbean nursemaid that emigrated with the family to England and raised both girls on island lore.

The second story takes place in the early 1600s and is the magically influenced story of the Tempest. Sycorax is an medicine woman who rescues Caliban from a drowned slave and adopts Ariel, abandoned in a failed settlement. Her powers and strange children cause tension with the villagers and so she makes a home on a remote part of the island, making indigo and medicine and charms to sell to the islanders. By chance, it is her home that is first discovered by the British colonizers and in the ensuing ambush, Sycorax is gravely injured and Ariel trades her freedom to nurse her adopted mother back to life. It is their imprisonment and reluctant assistance that allow this British settlement to be successful.

The novel is wonderfully conceived. The descriptions of the Caribbean island both in the early story line and through the stories told by the present-day nursemaid are completely captivating. The present day narrative can't help but suffer in the comparison, as the stakes for the characters are not life-and-death, but it is provides a counterpoint and cleverly portrays the long-term consequences of a brutal colonization.

792. (Finished 6/21/2018) Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee, pub. 1959



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "An extremely vivid semi-autobiographical description of life in a small English village in the early part of the twentieth century.... What is perhaps the most remarkable about is...the rich lushness of the description."

Often classified as non-fiction, this memoir is written in a fictional stye -- the reminiscences are arranged thematically rather than chronologically. Laurie Lee grew up and came of age in a small, rural town in England between the two World Wars. Interestingly, he was from a blended family -- his mother married a widower with four children and then had three more. The father left and Laurie's other raised the seven children the best she could with occasional moneys form her absent husband.

In loving detail, Lee depicts various aspects of rural life, from chores, to school, to church, as well as the changes, first slow, introduced by automobiles and other modernizations. While very well-written, I must admit it did not have a strong impact. I found the structure confusing -- it wasn't until the 4th or 5th chapter that he bothered to detail his family members, so the earlier chapters had references to people that I was unaware how they related to him and the story as a whole. It didn't help that I put down the ebook for a couple of weeks to finish off a handful of paperbacks before going on vacation. And it really suffered in comparison with A Kestrel for a Knave, which had a more emotional, coherent story arc.

Wow - closing in fast on 800! Amazing!

>286 BekkaJo: It certainly helped to have a two week visit to my mum's where I have many hours a day to devote to reading! I probably won't hit that big milestone until mid-August or so.

You are going so fast! I really think you may be the first one to read all 1001 (or 1305 for that matter) ever!
Great reviews again!

>288 Simone2: Nope there is a women in a goodreads group that in 2014 had read 995 list books

I am dropping a star here, you've read so many that I will be using your thread as a reference point to help guide me along. :)

793. (Finished 6/23/2018) Looking for the Possible Dance by A. L. Kennedy, pub. 1993



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} is an almost everyday story of life, love, and sacrifice in the fraught world of male-female relationships.... In this novel the dance of life provides little opportunity to escape a routine that creates love and resentment in equal measure."

~review soon? maybe?~

794. (Finished 6/27/2018) The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch, pub. 1973, removed after the 2006 edition.

RE-READ (Finished 6/29/2018) Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, pub. 1936.

795. (Finished 7/10/2018) All Souls Day by Cees Nooteboom, pub. 1998



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "As much a romance as a kind of dialog with the dying 20th century, Nooteboom's novel of ideas contemplates the catalog of horrors, losses and destruction wraught in recent history.... All Souls Day is a sober inquiry into the meaning of life, art, and historical events, both personal and public."

796. (Finished 7/29/2018) A World for Julius by Alfredo Bryce Echenique, pub. 1970



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Typical of the author is his mastery of a very free use of speech, bold changes of perspective, and an autobiographical tone that varies between the ironic and the sentimental. These characteristics gave his writing a new direction that placed him firmly in the boom generation of Spanish-American fiction."

Julius is the youngest child of a wealthy Peruvian family. His world is shown in a loose, almost stream-of-conscious manner, from many many viewpoints. We see the floating, unemotional life of his beautiful mother, the rich socialite life of his gregarious step-father, the work-life and worries of various servants, the striving life of his want-to-be-popular uncle, the angst-filled life of his older brothers, and so on.

The author builds an entire world through the layering of different stories of the various people in Julius's life. And yet, somehow, the book felt cold. The story covers about seven years, from age 5 to 12 (I think) and so includes what should be many heart wrenching moments, and yet it left me cold. The author (or translator) seems better with humor -- weeks later I still have images of young Julius "helping" construction workers at the building site, and sharing their lunch-time beer.

797. (Finished 8/6/2018) Pavel's Letters by Monika Maron, pub. 1999



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Part of a wider genre that examines 20th century German history through the lens of family history.... {It} is both an intimate family history, and a moving, universal tale set against the history of 20th century Europe"

I may have read this at the wrong time. As much as Maron tries to be clear about what time period and which family members each episode is dwelling on, I just had trouble following the story. Perhaps because is is told out of order and perhaps because I don't have the necessary knowledge of the history to which she is alluding. The writing was quite good, but I prefer my novels to read less like non-fiction.

798. (Finished 8/14/2018) The Day of the Dolphin by Robert Merle, pub. 1967



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Combining the creativity of science fiction with the suspense of a perfectly crafted spy novel, {it} poses some deep questions about the human capability for good and evil.... Merle's novel encourages us to question the assumptions behind not only political decisions but the conventional thriller as well."

I have certainly read many mystery/thrillers that provide an awareness into another culture and provoke me into contemplating the subtle gradations of "evil". Unfortunately this novel was too dated and the characterization was too shallow to make it anything another than a silly tale.

799. (Finished 8/17/2018) A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch, pub. 1961



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "{It} has all the antic sexuality of a restoration comedy, yet chimes resonantly with the 1960s revolution in values and sexual mores. It uses surprise and suspense, incorporates farce and melodrama, balances its unlikely plot elements, integrates symbolism and imagery into its realist structure, and manages to comment wisely on the stupidity of human relationships."

no rating or your own thoughts for that one? Why does your version have a Japanese print for the cover - is there some connection?

What have you got in mind for book 800?

>78 amerynth: Oh yes! I have a particular love the Mitford sisters. There are many books about them, either collectively or individually. They were all so interesting in their own right.

'according to The Times journalist Ben Macintyre, as "Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur"'

It is hard to imagine that all six sisters can have lead such action-packed lives! One feels sorry for poor Tom, the only brother, especially as he died so young.

>298 arukiyomi: Doesn't Honor have a samurai sword? I read this a long time ago so not sure of my memory!

What was/is the big 800?

800. (Finished 8/20/2018) Molloy by Samuel Beckett, pub. 1951



Why it is included in the 1001 list: "Samuel Beckett is better known for his plays than for his novels, but his novels are the greater achievement. They are the funniest prose alive.... Beckett is the great master of every possible shade of decline and its unrivaled comedian. Molloy is probably the funniest of all his writing."

I prefer the plays -- the humor is more apparent when it has to be conveyed through spoken word. This layered story has moments of beautiful, lyrical writing, but for me the humor did not come through at all. For some reason I expected it to circle back on itself -- the last line to also be the first line and was disappointed when it was not because then the only sense I could make of the story was, well, wrong.

801. (Finished 9/17/2018) The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, pub. 2006

802. (Finished 9/24/2018) The Floating Opera by John Barth, pub. 1956

803. (Finished 10/14/2018) Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, pub. 1809

804. (Finished 10/19/2018) Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes, pub. 1959

805. (Finished 11/30/2018) Z by Vassilis Vassilikos, pub. 1967

806. (Finished 12/11/2018) The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley, pub. 1953

807. (Finished 12/14/2018) House Mother Normal by B. S. Johnson, pub. 1971

808. (Finished 12/17/2018) To the North by Elizabeth Bowen, pub. 1932

809. (Finished 12/18/2018) Misericordia by Benito Pérez-Galdós, pub. 1897

810. (Finished 12/20/2018) Nada by Carmen Laforet, pub. 1945

----------------------

811. (Finished 8/9/2014) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, pub. 2013

812. (Finished 7/11/2015) The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner, 2013

813. (Finished 1/8/2016) Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, pub. 2013

And off to start a fresh thread, perhaps the last thread?