Dec. 2021: Readings "...it was in the bleak December/And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."

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Dec. 2021: Readings "...it was in the bleak December/And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."

1CliffBurns
dec 1, 2021, 7:47 pm

The quote this time around is from..? Easy one. Poe. "The Raven."

Mixing up the fiction and non-fic this month, trying to plump up my book count, which is pretty paltry this year.

Too many podcasts and movies.

Damnit.

2BookConcierge
dec 1, 2021, 11:15 pm


Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart
Digital audiobook performed by Angus King
5*****

Stuart’s debut work explores the impoverished working-class families of 1980s Glasgow. The Bain family lives in public housing and struggles to make ends meet even with the assistance they’re given. Shuggie (Hugh) is the youngest child of Agnes, and much of the story focuses on his efforts to understand and deal with his mother’s alcoholism and depression. His father opted for divorce, and his two older siblings have pretty much left the nest, so it is the tender, kind, lonely Shuggie who is left to deal with his mother.

Oh, my heart breaks for this child. He is so tender and loving, so devoted to his mother, so trusting and naïve, and so worldly and responsible. The burden he carries is far too heavy for his small shoulders.

The novel opens in 1992, with a 16-year-old Shuggie struggling to make it on his own – out of school, working parttime at a supermarket (where he gets a discount on dented cans of fish), and living in a flop house where he is preyed upon by older men. Stuart then takes the reader back a decade to witness the child’s tender years.

Agnes is a complicated woman. She has dreams and ambitions and is tenacious about keeping herself, her children and her house clean and as fashionable as possible. Shuggie learns these lessons well; he helps her with her hair, makes sure his shoes are polished and his clothes pressed. The taunts of the children in his neighborhood do not phase him, for he knows his worth. But Agnes is an alcoholic and alcohol will ruin her life. Stuart makes the reader privy to the most intimate details of their lives, This makes their descent all the more painful to watch. There is no neat happy ending here, but there is some hope for Shuggie.

Angus King does a marvelous job of narrating the audio book. He sets a good pace and really brings these characters to life.

3CliffBurns
dec 4, 2021, 2:54 pm

Jeffrey Ford's GIRL IN THE GLASS, a cool, little thriller set in Depression-era America.

The cast includes a trio of grifters who pretend to be mediums to gull wealthy clients out of some of their filthy lucre. Promising contact with the dear departed, while employing all sorts of nefarious tricks to fool their "marks".

Winning characterizations make for fun reads.

4CliffBurns
dec 4, 2021, 7:10 pm

STOLEN AIR: SELECTED POEMS by Osip Mandelstam. Translation by Christian Wiman (Introduction by Ilya Kaminsky).

Not sure what to think of a volume translated by someone 1) who can't read or write Russian and so was relying on existing translations and, what, his own ear and 2) admits his versions "deviate radically" from others and 3) adds titles to Mandelstam's untitled poems because "my versions seemed to need them".

I do like some of the individual poems (especially "Leningrad" and "My Animal, My Age") and this book was praised by the likes of Carolyn Forsche and Jim Harrison.

Maybe my misgivings are out of line. Anyone else?

5mejix
dec 5, 2021, 11:05 pm

I think it is a fairly common practice to rely on existing translations in cases where the translator does not know the original language. I think Bly, Paz, and maybe Merwin did this often.
This radical deviation from other translations would make me curious. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe not.
Adding titles though seems hard to justify.

6CliffBurns
dec 6, 2021, 11:13 am

I think I'll find another Mandelstam translation and make a comparison. I know that Pierre Joris, translator or Celan, says let a "thousand translations" come from an author's work, but some are definitely better than others.

7BookConcierge
dec 9, 2021, 9:14 pm


Even In Paradise – Elizabeth Nunez
4****

This is a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear set in the Caribbean. Peter Duckworth is a Trinidadian and proud of it, but after his wife dies he decides to move to Barbados where he builds a magnificent house, high on a hill, surrounded by considerable property and with stunning views of the sea. His youngest daughter, Corrine, continues to live with him, while his older daughters are at university and about to be married.

What a wonderful character study! Nunez had me on the edge of my seat a few times, even though I knew the basic story line already. I liked how she wove in current issues of race and class and history of colonialism (and slavery) in the Caribbean.

Her narrator is Emile, the son of a prominent black doctor who once saved Peter Duckworth’s life. He first meets Duckworth and Corrine at the racetrack stables in Trinidad, when Corrine is just a child, 9 or 10 years old. He later reconnects with the family when they’ve moved to Barbados and he is a university student. His best friend, Albert Glazal, has fallen in love with Glynnis and he’s invited Emile to come along when he’s to meet Mr Duckworth for the first time.

The tragic event is shrouded in further mystery, and I’m glad that Nunez leaves so much to the imagination. What IS clear is the motivation of Glynnis. Poor Albert. But I’m reminded of the parable of the little girl who picks up a half-dead rattlesnake …. He knew what he was getting into.

8CliffBurns
dec 12, 2021, 11:57 am

WHAT ABOUT THE BABY: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction by Alice McDermott.

I don't tend to read books about writers and their process but Alice McDermott is one of those people who is regularly nominated for the highest writing prizes.

I enjoyed this one, especially her comparisons between loss of spiritual faith and loss of faith in yourself as an author. That one made my hair stand up.

Practical-minded and unpretentious, I think emerging or aspiring authors would find a lot of appreciate in this tome.

An old, jaded pro like me sure did.

9mejix
Bewerkt: dec 12, 2021, 11:55 pm

Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion. A collection of essays, all of them good but they do seem for the most part minor projects.
South and West also by Didion. These are notes for two essays that were never completed. The essay on the travels through the South should have been a great book and, like the introductory essay suggests, a very relevant one now. What we do have is interesting but more of a curiosity.
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. About 800 pages of Italian folktales collected and intelligently retold by Calvino. Not sure if I need to finish this one, but definitely a great collection.
The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury. Guerrilla warfare in the 19th century. Enjoying this story despite the author.

10BookConcierge
dec 13, 2021, 9:12 am


Eva Luna – Isabel Allende
Audible audiobook performed by Cynthia Farrell & Timothy Andrés Pabon.
4****

From the book jacket: Meet Eva Luna – a lover, writer, revolutionary, and storyteller. Eva is born poor, orphaned at an early age, and works as a servant. Eva is a naturally gifted and imaginative storyteller who meets people from all stations and walks of life. Though she has no wealth, she trades her stories like currency with people who are kind to her.

My reactions
I’m already a huge fan of Allende’s magical realism, and this book did not disappoint. I loved the many characters – from the Lebanese merchant to the petty criminal/guerrilla leader to the transsexual entertainer. As Eva tells the story of her life, she tells the story of this South American nation – of corruption, class struggle, peace, war, feast and famine. The story comes alive with saints and ghosts, servants and political leaders equally profile, skewered and cherished.

Both Allende and Eva Luna are great storytellers, and this a marvelous escape.

The audiobook was performed by Cynthia Farrell and Timothy Andrés Pabon. These are two talented voice artists, and having them both narrating, makes it easy to follow the shifts in perspective.

11CliffBurns
dec 15, 2021, 11:59 am

THE GHOST IN LOVE by Jonathan Carroll.

I used to be a big fan of Carroll's. LAND OF LAUGHS is one of the best, most entertaining first novels I've ever read.

But I haven't really enjoyed his work in the past fifteen years. At some point, it just stopped being credible to me and when that happens a work of fiction becomes escapist, a mere fairy tale, and I pretty much lose interest. GHOST IN LOVE has its moments, but it's overlong and the theology behind it is more than a tad wonky and it lost its appeal to me about halfway through.

What's next on the TBR pile...

12CliffBurns
dec 16, 2021, 11:27 am

NIGHT HAWKS by Charles Johnson.

A collection of stories drawn from over a decade of writing, which leads to a refreshing dissimilarity of stories, a truly eclectic roster of tales, from mainstream to speculative fiction.

Johnson is a highly regarded writer, MacArthur Fellow, etc. Check him out.

13CliffBurns
dec 17, 2021, 11:44 am

SONGS OF MIHYAR THE DAMASCENE, a book of poetry by "Adonis" (Ali Ahmed Said Esber), a writer originally from Syria.

Adonis's poetry is focussed on exile (he was forced to leave Syria in the late 1950s, fleeing first to Beirut and, eventually, settling in Paris). Very much a modernist poet, influenced by T.S. Eliot and other. The poetry is abstract but not incomprehensible, longing and displacement inhabiting each line.

Recommended.

14CliffBurns
dec 19, 2021, 12:53 am

Zipped through IN THE WEEDS: AROUND THE WORLD AND BEHIND THE SCENES WITH ANTHONY BOURDAIN.

Tom Vitale produced more than 100 episodes of Bourdain's shows and came to know the best and worst of the man.

Thanks to this book and the "Roadrunner" documentary, a clearer picture of Bourdain the human being, as opposed to Bourdain the legend, is starting to emerge.

Recommended.

15iansales
dec 19, 2021, 6:30 am

Still working my way through Titus Groan. Meanwhile, I have read...

The Midwich Cuckoos... and the more Wyndham I read, the more I think he had a very dodgy moral compass. The origin of the Children is never explained - not that it really needs to be - and Wyndham treats them surprisingly even-handledly. This is still a very talky novel, and the moral argument put forward by one of the main characters has more holes in it than a colander.

The Apollo Murders, the first novel by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. The title is a misnomer, as there's only one murder, and it's solved pretty quickly - unfortunately, the murderer is on his way to the Moon. It should really have been titled Apollo 18, but I can understand why they didn't go with that. Anyway, Apollo 18 is an entirely military mission to the Moon, but the launch of an Almaz military space station by the Soviets forces the US to change 18's mission - which consequently goes spectacularly wrong. Some good interesting detail on the hardware, and cameos by real people, but otherwise it's airport novel territory - paper-thin characters with dodgy motivations, bland and just about competent prose, lots of repetition, and idiot plotting.

Hellstrom's Hive I last read - and just the once I think - back in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I'd remembered much of the plot of the book, surprisingly, but had forgotten quite how weird some of Herbert's ideas could be. Unfortunately, the secretive government agency (which reminded me of the one from Heinlein's The Puppet Masters) was pretty unconvincing, and its members didn't come across at all plausible. There was some real heavy sexism in the book too, especially near the beginning.

Now reading Inhibitor Phase.

16mejix
Bewerkt: dec 19, 2021, 7:20 pm

The most awaited moment in the publishing industry every year, here are the best books I read in 2021:

5 stars:
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
Bossypants by Tina Fey

4 stars:
Intimations by Zadie Smith
Angels in America by Tony Kushner,
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld

Honorable mentions:
A History of Europe by J.M. Roberts. I wouldn't call it a great book but the panoramic scope made for moving reading experience.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville. A fascinating mess. Weird.

Currently reading:
A Life Of Picasso: The Minotaur Years: 1933-1943 by John Richardson. This is probably going to get 4 stars. We'll see.
The Heart of Everything that Is by Bob Drury. This one is hovering between 3 and 4 stars. Stay tuned.

17CliffBurns
dec 20, 2021, 2:46 pm

THE STARS AT NOON by Denis Johnson.

Been a fan of Johnson's since I read JESUS' SON twenty years ago.

This novel is set in Nicaragua, circa 1984. A female American journalist struggles to escape the country after losing her accreditation but events conspire against her. The atmosphere of Managua and other parts of the country are effectively conveyed (I could almost smell the rank diesel odor of the capital city), the powerlessness and vulnerability of the protagonist chilling and believable. No chance of happy endings or redemption here...but what do you expect from a book set in 1984?

Recommended.

18BookConcierge
dec 22, 2021, 3:18 pm


Jamaica Inn – Daphne du Maurier
Digital audiobook narrated by Toni Britton
4****

From the book jacket: The coachman tried to warn young Mary Yellan away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rainswept Cornish coast. But Mary chose instead to honor her mother’s dying request that she join her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn. From her first glimpse on that raw November eve, she could sense the inn’s dark power.

My reactions
What a wonderfully atmospheric, dark, sinister tale! I shivered with the damp, cold fog, strained to see by faint candle or lamp light, listened to the whistling wind, the baying hounds, and the alternating whispers and shouts of a rabble of men up to no good.

Mary Yellan is a marvelous heroine. Young and somewhat naïve, she is still a strong woman, resolute and determined to make the best of her situation. As many have told her, she is too young and pretty to live alone, so she goes to her Aunt Patience. But instead of finding a happy woman with ribbons on her bonnet (Mary’s memory of her Aunt’s only visit some twelve years previous), she finds a frightened, dispirited woman clearly afraid of her own husband. And Uncle Josh? He’s a foreboding hulk of a man who rules his establishment with an iron fist and is unusually secretive about his business.

As Mary struggles to make sense of her situation and determine what, if anything, she can do about it, she meets two men who will become intricately involved: Jem Merlyn (her Uncle’s brother, and a horse thief) and Francis Davey (vicar of the local parish). They could not be more different, and yet each will help – and hinder – her in unexpected ways.

Du Maurier’s plot is intricate and complex and had several twists & turns in it. I wish there were a sequel so I could find out what Mary Yellen is like as an older woman!

Toni Britton does a fine job of narrating the audio version. She has a good pace and differentiates the characters sufficiently, so I had no trouble keeping track of who is speaking.

19CliffBurns
dec 27, 2021, 7:04 pm

One of the last books of the year and it's a beauty.

Annie Dillard's THE WRITING LIFE.

I revere Dillard, her books seem perfectly composed, as delicate and elegant as origami sculptures and yet there's a fierce, beating heart present in each.

I recommend this book to writers and readers of all ages. It transports, informs and inspires. A true work of art.

20CliffBurns
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2021, 7:35 pm

TOPICS ABOUT WHICH I KNOW NOTHING, a collection of stories by Patrick Ness.

Absolutely unique prose; the plots are pretty much indescribable, and Ness's take on each is unique and disorienting.

There are tales with titles like "Jesus' Elbows and Other Urban Myths" and "Sydney is a City of Jaywalkers". Getting the idea?

Weird, weird, weird.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

21CliffBurns
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2021, 7:35 pm

Unless I somehow manage to sneak in another one, I finished reading my last two books of 2021 (bringing my grand total to 81).

SECOND ACTS IN AMERICAN LIVES, a compilation of flash fiction by Ryan Ridge and Mel Bosworth. Features the best and worst aspects of that genre, some of the pieces fascinating, others feel unrealized and incomplete. Like surrealist prose, it's hit-and-miss.

FRANKENSTEIN: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, adapted by Jason Cobley. Can't speak to how faithful it is to the original, since I've never been able to finish FRANKENSTEIN (like DRACULA, which I DID finish, it is a dreadful novel). Credit to Mr. Cobley for incorporating actual words and dialogue from the original, and I have to say the artwork is pretty decent. But I'm no big fan of graphic novels, so we'll leave it there.

22mejix
Bewerkt: dec 30, 2021, 10:03 pm

Finished A Life of Picasso: The Minotaur Years by John Richardson. Richardson is always very enjoyable company. He is very knowledgeable but his style is very conversational. This last installment was a little bit undercooked at times but it was a good read. I was left with some questions. As I recall Richardson never intended to follow Picasso's complete life span but the book never explains why he chose to stop in 1943. Nor does the editor explain how advanced the project was before Richardson passed away. Bittersweet to finish this book. I had been following this project since the 90's. Still what an accomplishment these 4 volumes are.

Also finished The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury. Big disappointment. Frustrating on many levels. Most of the book seems to be building to a climax that turns out to be brief, poorly presented, and barely examined. The book is really about the Fetterman massacre not about Red Cloud. If Red Cloud's story has been told it definitely was not by this book.