May, 2024 Reading: "As full of spirit as the month of May, and as gorgeous as the sun in midsummer." Shakespeare
DiscussieLiterary Snobs
Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.
1CliffBurns
Starting off this month with Werner Herzog's new memoir EVERY MAN AGAINST HIMSELF AND GOD AGAINST ALL.
Entertaining, though there's a sense the author has also bought into the "myth of Herzog". His memory TOO sharp, his self-awareness arriving VERY young and, I suspect, added retroactively.
But the man knows how to tell a good story (the same can be said for Orson Welles), a born raconteur.
Entertaining, though there's a sense the author has also bought into the "myth of Herzog". His memory TOO sharp, his self-awareness arriving VERY young and, I suspect, added retroactively.
But the man knows how to tell a good story (the same can be said for Orson Welles), a born raconteur.
2mejix
Read a bunch of short works in April, partly because I read a 600 plus pages book in March, and partly because I was waiting for a couple of books from the library.
A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux. The first part is a brilliant examination of how the author developed her idea of herself as a woman. As in previous books she is very restrained, very measured; incisive but also moving. After her marriage the book is harder to read, this is clearly a difficult subject for her. She becomes a bit more elliptical and there is a lot of, understandable, resentment. The book becomes very repetitive. It does not have the same lucidity.
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki. I thought it was going to be something like Bly’s Little Book of Shadows but it is about shadows literally and I liked it even better for that. The book is very specific in its arguments and is written in a very direct conversational style. Tanizaki is an old man reacting to modernity and to Western influence in Japan, but he does so in a very humble and even tender way. A small book but a nice surprise. I am sure my reaction is in part due to the way it was wonderfully read by David Rintoul in the audiobook.
The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil. It's Musil's first novel and it shows. There is intelligence but also a lack of perspective. Small events are blown out of proportion. They cannot carry the monumental meaning assigned to them.The intellectual gymnastics in denying homoerotic feelings are kind of sad, but also kind of funny if you think about it.
There There by Tommy Orange. Full of understandable indignation but it really doesn't do much with it. The narrative just piles it on and on and it gets to be a bit much. Feels kind of adolescent. I lost interest about one third into the novel. I just let the audiobook play on at a slightly faster speed.The writing is very vivid. Nice to get a glimpse of contemporary Native American life for a change.
Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863 by Arthur Freemantle. Felt like a public relations document for the Confederacy. The more interesting moments are when it works as an eyewitness account. When it gives you a concrete sense of what life was like in that region during the Civil War.
The Years also by Annie Ernaux. She wanted to use personal biography to create a generational biography. Interesting project. A lot of references of recent French history were lost on me, clearly not her primary audience. There were however other points of entry, more philosophical, or more universal.
Journey Back to the Source by Alejo Carpentier. A Latin American classic I had never read. Loved the concept but the density of the language is exhausting. If I recall correctly, Harold Bloom ranked Carpentier very highly among Latin American writers.
Currently reading two very interesting books:
The Selected Poems of Po Chü-i Translated by David Hinton
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux. The first part is a brilliant examination of how the author developed her idea of herself as a woman. As in previous books she is very restrained, very measured; incisive but also moving. After her marriage the book is harder to read, this is clearly a difficult subject for her. She becomes a bit more elliptical and there is a lot of, understandable, resentment. The book becomes very repetitive. It does not have the same lucidity.
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki. I thought it was going to be something like Bly’s Little Book of Shadows but it is about shadows literally and I liked it even better for that. The book is very specific in its arguments and is written in a very direct conversational style. Tanizaki is an old man reacting to modernity and to Western influence in Japan, but he does so in a very humble and even tender way. A small book but a nice surprise. I am sure my reaction is in part due to the way it was wonderfully read by David Rintoul in the audiobook.
The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil. It's Musil's first novel and it shows. There is intelligence but also a lack of perspective. Small events are blown out of proportion. They cannot carry the monumental meaning assigned to them.The intellectual gymnastics in denying homoerotic feelings are kind of sad, but also kind of funny if you think about it.
There There by Tommy Orange. Full of understandable indignation but it really doesn't do much with it. The narrative just piles it on and on and it gets to be a bit much. Feels kind of adolescent. I lost interest about one third into the novel. I just let the audiobook play on at a slightly faster speed.The writing is very vivid. Nice to get a glimpse of contemporary Native American life for a change.
Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863 by Arthur Freemantle. Felt like a public relations document for the Confederacy. The more interesting moments are when it works as an eyewitness account. When it gives you a concrete sense of what life was like in that region during the Civil War.
The Years also by Annie Ernaux. She wanted to use personal biography to create a generational biography. Interesting project. A lot of references of recent French history were lost on me, clearly not her primary audience. There were however other points of entry, more philosophical, or more universal.
Journey Back to the Source by Alejo Carpentier. A Latin American classic I had never read. Loved the concept but the density of the language is exhausting. If I recall correctly, Harold Bloom ranked Carpentier very highly among Latin American writers.
Currently reading two very interesting books:
The Selected Poems of Po Chü-i Translated by David Hinton
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
3CliffBurns
Finished one of the best novels I've read in a long while, Nathan Hill's WELLNESS.
Superbly written, highly intelligent, moving. An authentic portrait of a relationship, two people gradually drifting apart.
Highly recommended.
Superbly written, highly intelligent, moving. An authentic portrait of a relationship, two people gradually drifting apart.
Highly recommended.
4CliffBurns
WHEREAS, a collection of poems released in 2016 by award-winning American author Stephen Dunn.
Wonderful--frequently playful, but the themes addressed are serious ones. Great insights into people, the experience of being alive.
Loved it.
Wonderful--frequently playful, but the themes addressed are serious ones. Great insights into people, the experience of being alive.
Loved it.
5iansales
Read: The End of Eternity, Isaac Asimov
Read because it was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1956, and I’ve been trying a few of the old Hugo nominees. It’s also one of the few Asimov novels I managed to miss readings back in my very early teens. Normally, of course, I avoid his books like the plague - I think he was a terrible writer, who managed a couple of ideas per book but everything else was just 1950s USA with a thin wash of paint. He’s the exemplar of Men in Fucking Hats sf. Asimov was 35 when The End of Eternity of publishing, but much of it reads like it was written by a much younger man - even though he didn’t even start it until 1953. The invention of time travel has led to the creation of Eternity, a series of stations outside of time, with access to every year from their creation to the distant future, which are staffed by an all-male (for reasons that probably were unexceptional in the 1950s) corps who make carefully calculated changes to history in order to prevent future rough patches. One such staff member, a Technician, Andrew Harlan, born in the 95th Century, despite the resolutely 20th Century US name, falls in love with a young woman from the 575th Century, and jeopardises his career, and Eternity, in order to have a relationship with her. This also includes jeopardising the plan in which he is unwittingly instrumental - sending a technician back to the 24th Century to invent time travel. No time travel, no Eternity, no Andrew Harlan, no nookie. Everything goes entirely as expected, even the plot twists. The prose is anodyne and the level of invention low - one mission involves sabotaging a clutch on a vehicle in the 223rd century because of course they would still have cars with gearboxes 20,000 years from now; although I was… bemused by “her long legs shimmered in faintly luminescent foamite”, which is a really tone-deaf neologism and likely doesn’t evoke the image Asimov intended. The End of Eternity lost the Hugo to Heinlein’s Double Star, although Leigh Brackett’s The Long Tomorrow would have been a better winner.
Read because it was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1956, and I’ve been trying a few of the old Hugo nominees. It’s also one of the few Asimov novels I managed to miss readings back in my very early teens. Normally, of course, I avoid his books like the plague - I think he was a terrible writer, who managed a couple of ideas per book but everything else was just 1950s USA with a thin wash of paint. He’s the exemplar of Men in Fucking Hats sf. Asimov was 35 when The End of Eternity of publishing, but much of it reads like it was written by a much younger man - even though he didn’t even start it until 1953. The invention of time travel has led to the creation of Eternity, a series of stations outside of time, with access to every year from their creation to the distant future, which are staffed by an all-male (for reasons that probably were unexceptional in the 1950s) corps who make carefully calculated changes to history in order to prevent future rough patches. One such staff member, a Technician, Andrew Harlan, born in the 95th Century, despite the resolutely 20th Century US name, falls in love with a young woman from the 575th Century, and jeopardises his career, and Eternity, in order to have a relationship with her. This also includes jeopardising the plan in which he is unwittingly instrumental - sending a technician back to the 24th Century to invent time travel. No time travel, no Eternity, no Andrew Harlan, no nookie. Everything goes entirely as expected, even the plot twists. The prose is anodyne and the level of invention low - one mission involves sabotaging a clutch on a vehicle in the 223rd century because of course they would still have cars with gearboxes 20,000 years from now; although I was… bemused by “her long legs shimmered in faintly luminescent foamite”, which is a really tone-deaf neologism and likely doesn’t evoke the image Asimov intended. The End of Eternity lost the Hugo to Heinlein’s Double Star, although Leigh Brackett’s The Long Tomorrow would have been a better winner.
6iansales
Read: The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction, Robert Goddard
I’ve been reading Goddard’s novels since the 1990s, and I remember him winning a “thumping good read” some time back then, which struck me as a bit of a back-handed insult as surely authors hope for more… His novels are contemporary thrillers, typically with a surprise twist in the final chapter, if that’s not a tautology. In recent years, Goddard has written a pretty good historical trilogy, a sensitive drama about France’s depredations in Algeria, and two novels about a middle-aged female Japanese private investigator, of which this is the second. The plot is based around the "Kobe Sensitive", who predicted the earthquake in that city in 1995 but was not believed, and a teenage survivor of post-WWII Japan who blackmailed his way to power and influence. It’s a solid thriller and, to my eyes, strong on detail, and with a sympathetic, if not personable, protagonist. The plot is appropriately chewy, so much so itäs hard to distinguish what is invention and what is actual historical fact. I can’t honestly recommend Goddard’s earlier novels - the twists often seemed either forced or completely left-field - but his last few have definitely been worth a go.
I’ve been reading Goddard’s novels since the 1990s, and I remember him winning a “thumping good read” some time back then, which struck me as a bit of a back-handed insult as surely authors hope for more… His novels are contemporary thrillers, typically with a surprise twist in the final chapter, if that’s not a tautology. In recent years, Goddard has written a pretty good historical trilogy, a sensitive drama about France’s depredations in Algeria, and two novels about a middle-aged female Japanese private investigator, of which this is the second. The plot is based around the "Kobe Sensitive", who predicted the earthquake in that city in 1995 but was not believed, and a teenage survivor of post-WWII Japan who blackmailed his way to power and influence. It’s a solid thriller and, to my eyes, strong on detail, and with a sympathetic, if not personable, protagonist. The plot is appropriately chewy, so much so itäs hard to distinguish what is invention and what is actual historical fact. I can’t honestly recommend Goddard’s earlier novels - the twists often seemed either forced or completely left-field - but his last few have definitely been worth a go.
7CliffBurns
WONDERLAND, a collection of poems by Matthew Dickman.
This book left me unmoved and I'm not sure why. I found most of the poems formless, lacking any kind of punch line or resolution. Very little emotion in evidence throughout, the poet exhibiting a disinterest in making a lasting, visceral impact on the reader.
Not to my taste.
This book left me unmoved and I'm not sure why. I found most of the poems formless, lacking any kind of punch line or resolution. Very little emotion in evidence throughout, the poet exhibiting a disinterest in making a lasting, visceral impact on the reader.
Not to my taste.
8CliffBurns
>5 iansales: "I’ve been trying a few of the old Hugo nominees."
Why would you put yourself through that?
Asimov is the lowest of the low, the worst "major" writer of any genre I can think of.
Why would you put yourself through that?
Asimov is the lowest of the low, the worst "major" writer of any genre I can think of.
9iansales
>8 CliffBurns: Haha, I wish I had an excuse but I don't.
Here's a review of a novel by van Vogt - https://medium.com/@ian-93054/the-universe-maker-ae-van-vogt-58aabed59d24
Here's a review of a novel by van Vogt - https://medium.com/@ian-93054/the-universe-maker-ae-van-vogt-58aabed59d24
10RobertDay
>9 iansales: A while back. I acquired a vintage issue of Astounding that included one of van Vogt's Null-A stories. The best thing I could say of it was that it read like a bad pastiche of itself.
11CliffBurns
I can vouch for Van Vogt's VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE but I never really liked anything else I've encountered by the man.
12iansales
>11 CliffBurns: I still rate The House that Stood Still, but nothing else.
13RobertDay
Just finished reading Sinclair McKay's Dresden; the fire and the darkness, a lucid account of the fire-bombing of Dresden, with extensive bracketing of that story with an account of the city and its cultural life before the war, and its reconstruction afterwards.
The book examines the nature of war crimes, for there are many who describe the bombing as just that. McKay's approach is very even-handed; if the bombing of Dresden, Hamburg and Cologne were war crimes, so were the bombing of Coventry, London, Guernica and Rotterdam. Of more importance to McKay is the story of post-war reconciliation, especially the work by the UK-based Dresden Trust in restoring the city, especially the Frauenkirche.
I've visited Dresden three times (I was quite prepared to have discussions that would start "Ich komme aus Coventry", though in the end that wasn't necessary), so I found this book especially meaningful.
The book examines the nature of war crimes, for there are many who describe the bombing as just that. McKay's approach is very even-handed; if the bombing of Dresden, Hamburg and Cologne were war crimes, so were the bombing of Coventry, London, Guernica and Rotterdam. Of more importance to McKay is the story of post-war reconciliation, especially the work by the UK-based Dresden Trust in restoring the city, especially the Frauenkirche.
I've visited Dresden three times (I was quite prepared to have discussions that would start "Ich komme aus Coventry", though in the end that wasn't necessary), so I found this book especially meaningful.
14CliffBurns
CLASSIC KRAKAUER, essays by Jon Krakauer.
Some of the author's early journalism and uncollected short non-fiction pieces.
Huge fan of his book INTO THIN AIR--his journalism also sound, top notch writing on a variety of subjects, from legendary surfers to visiting one of America's most remote and untouched national parks.
Recommended.
Some of the author's early journalism and uncollected short non-fiction pieces.
Huge fan of his book INTO THIN AIR--his journalism also sound, top notch writing on a variety of subjects, from legendary surfers to visiting one of America's most remote and untouched national parks.
Recommended.
15CliffBurns
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING by Joan Didion.
I'm sure most of you are already familiar with this title. I picked it up while I was killing time in a small town library, read forty pages and ordered it as an interlibrary loan.
I think the first half is quite a bit stronger, but the book is a sad and insightful examination of the stages of grief and how mourning can affect and distort our perceptions.
I can understand why so many people recommend it to the recently bereaved.
I'm sure most of you are already familiar with this title. I picked it up while I was killing time in a small town library, read forty pages and ordered it as an interlibrary loan.
I think the first half is quite a bit stronger, but the book is a sad and insightful examination of the stages of grief and how mourning can affect and distort our perceptions.
I can understand why so many people recommend it to the recently bereaved.
