Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote (on a different thread): "There are several famous works that deal with authoritarianism, the "dictator" novels of Latin America. Several precede GGM.
One is Miguel Angel Asturias (Guatemala), El Sr Presidente. Augustk Roa Bastos, (Paraguay), (Eng?) "I, the Supreme".

I hope you don't mind that I copied and pasted a part of your comment here, Linda!

Hmm, I suspect we're neglecting this discussion a bit because this is definitely not "rewarding" reading in the sense that there's not really much of a feeling of : "I wonder what happens next"? Not to critique the master, but.... he sure didn't make it easy.

If you guys have negative thoughts on the work, please feel free to express them! Our group is not a rebel group for nothing. We're polite to one another, but no need to pussy-foot around how we feel about works of literature. If we do, we're not being proper explorers as befits people who wander off on unknown paths!

Guys! Do you mind if we squeeze in Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart just after the Murakami? It's kinda perfect for Halloween.

Much of Jackson's creepiness is more psychological horror, so of course we can discuss them any time, it doesn't have to be particularly for Halloween, though Amy has suggested a few potentially spooky ones which I'm about to investigate.

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I loved God of Small Things and I might be up for a reread, but if people don't want that one, we could try The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Roy's newer book. We can always try to ..."

All of that sounds good, Amy. Agreed on all the Indian suggestions.

Re the Jackson. Sure, we can have a look at Dark Tales quickly, let me see if I can find a copy.

There are a few good stories in the Lottery collection that I would like to discuss, a few of them quite disturbing, but not really in the "Halloween" sense, (with perhaps the exception of 2 stories) so if you guys don't mind, I think I'll make a thread for the Lottery collection and put it on our list, and then maybe each person can talk about those stories that stood out the most for them., whenever it suits them. We could maybe use spoiler tags or work out some plan.

I've just seen one of the very short Jackson stories being compared to Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. The latter would actually be pretty nice to have as our official Halloween story after the Murakami, since Halloween is actually a celebration in remembrance of the dead, and this is a tale about the dead, which none of the Jackson stories are, and in addition to that, it has lots of flesh on it (excuse the pun) for discussion of psychology and symbolism and so on. Also, the Poe is of course in the public domain, so very easy to obtain.

That's not to discount the Jackson stories, though, which we can always do right after the Poe? Just to give us time to get hold of them and decide how we're going to structure it.

Hi guys! I'm still struggling to find a nice Jackson for around Halloween time. Most of the stories in The Lottery collection are relatively hum-drum (with a few exceptions) but I think we've already discussed The Lottery itself, so I propose that we rather do the Murakami first, if you all don't mind.

If we start First Person Singular: Stories on Oct 20/21, that should give most people a chance to get hold of it in time, and at least our main attraction there, being "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova".

Also, it has come to my attention that we've not been giving India any love, so I was thinking, later on in our reading adventures, we could perhaps go for any of the obvious ones: I suspect most of our members might already have read The God of Small Things and might not want to re-do it, but I haven't actually read it yet, so I'd be happy to do it if anyone so desires, and the same goes for A Fine Balance .
But then I also noticed this book: Train to Pakistan, and thought it might give a nice bit of historical flavor. In any case, I'd be glad for some "India" suggestions from members.

Oh, and as for our next read, we'll be discussing a story or two out of Haruki Murakami's First Person Singular: Stories , with a Halloween focus on: "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova"

I will send out a message to all members in the group shortly regarding our upcoming reads, as soon as we've managed to make final decisions regarding what we're reading when. We also often do polls to gauge what our members want.

Nilanjana wrote: "Hi there friends.
I am Nilanjana Haldar hailing from India, and I am new to this group. ...."

Hi Nilanjana, welcome to the group! The group had been dormant for a few years, because the people running it didn't have enough time to spend on Goodreads anymore. However we have just come together again in the last month or two, and decided we want to revive the group again.

We've decided to take things slow, and thought we would start off with a month or two of reading short stories. We have so far thought of the following authors: Ben Okri, Shirley Jackson, Haruki Murakami, Gabriel García Márquez, I see somebody on the group suggested Nikolai Gogol. And for right now in the near future, we are also looking for a Chinese or Japanese mystery.

For later on, once we're settled back in, we might be looking at : Herta Muller's The Hunger Angel, also
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 or One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, or Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev, and still on the Russian side, I might be doing a side-read with one of the members on Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

And from Viet Nam on the Viet Nam side, Novel Without a Name.

We might look at Italian literature with If This Is a Man by Primo Levi and also at All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

As for what the group's reading aims are in general, we are prepared to explore anything that is relatively challenging or different, and we're not bound by period or genre - quite the contrary, we like diversity. So our main genres would be: literary fiction, contemporary fiction as well as classics from previous eras, right back to Shakespeare or even earlier, science fiction, speculative fiction, etc. as long as the literature we read gives us new perspectives of what is possible in literature or enriches us in some way.

It would be nice if you could perhaps suggest something nice about or from India in English, actually, since we've neglected India terribly - I don't think we have one book on our list by an Indian author.

Hi Cordelia, thanks for the feedback. Yes, I think that part of the problem was that our program was too 'heavy' both in content and in quantity. We need to add some short-ish fun reads, although we did have that as well with a few of the reads we did.

Patriarch is not the most fun read I have ever tackled, but hey, it's horror month, and horrors there are to be found in AOTP. :D

Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "Heads up, there's a huge debate over whether "real maravilloso"(marvelous reality) and magical realism are the same thing.
Carpentier (Cuba) came up with the marvelous real, which he claimed could..."

Ah it's good to have our Latin American lit expert back, after all of her (or during still?) resettling travails! Interesting input about the debates around magical realism, and I am aware that there are even more distinctions and debates.

...but your comments on Isabel Allende rather saddens me. I read The House of the Spirits very long ago and loved it, but it was so long ago that I don't remember why I loved it, so a reread is definitely due re that.

Which reminds me: I know you're very busy with your resettling efforts, but I would love it if you and other members would take a squiz at the ideas on reading and perception that I had linked to in an earlier post (it's here: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/t...) and tell me what you think. I know that my outlook on the world has definitely changed a lot over the years, which is one of the reasons why I should probably re-read all the notable books I had read as a teenager.
Borges had such an interesting mind, didn't he?

Oh, PS! So, in your opinion, does the Laura Esquivel we read at some point - Like Water for Chocolate fall under magical realism, and if not, why would you say so? My professor introduced it as an example of MR and I had to write a paper on it, but from a feminist POV.

Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "Hi, all!
Sorry that I've been AWOL...."

Phew! Sounds hectic, Linda! Glad you finally found a suitable place to live in the end. :)
How strange about the Russian dating sites!
Will investigate the Gabo you mentioned. In the meantime, we started one that you dislike, but I see you commented, so will go chat that side.

Cordelia wrote: "Really good to have this group back again. It used to be one of my favourites."

Hi Cordelia, we're still busy finding our feet again, so stick around! Speaking for myself, I'm definitely going to have to take a slower pace, and the two other mods agree that they have very little time as well - I know Mark is simply too busy to be fully active.

So I was wondering if we should perhaps have another look at some of the books on our list that we never got to; but it has to be books that our members want to read, of course. So I hope that in due time, you guys will all be giving some input as to which books out of those lists you'd like to read. :)

This copy is downloadable and quite readable if you're into e-books at all. http://www.sxcsrannalibrary.co.in/sit...

No matter, we have 3 weeks, and it gives me more time to go on tangents in the meantime. XD

I'm going to post just a few thoughts on the first few pages to get the ball rolling.

Hmm, I usually give more of an intro with a work like this, do you guys want a side thread for extra reading, or shall we stick them into the main threads?

I found an interesting article regarding, I suppose, "the philosophy of reading and the post/ante-historic influence of literature on literature" - anyway, it's quite interesting and deals with Borges and this work under discussion: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/t...

I am pretty sure that history itself is making us read these works with different eyes- I know it is in my case.

In any case, our story starts somewhere at the end or the middle, in typical po-mo fashion and works itself backwards and forwards so let's take that into account from the start and not be too startled by the fact that we're starting with the death of an unnamed dictator.

(Btw, in case you wondered: "Lombards of William Dampier" – Dampier was an English pirate who raided the coasts of South America more or less between 1704 and 1711. and, a “berlin” is some sort of old-fashioned carriage. See: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/berlin )

GGM loves to play around with symbolism, so I’m just going to throw some thoughts out there about some of the symbolism that I seem to be picking up, but if you guys read something different, please share!

I imagine the vultures swamping the unnamed dictator's palace can be likened to people who flock to the fallen to see what they can scavenge. I am particularly reminded of the scene in “Zorba the Greek” where the village people descend on the dying Madame Hortense's bedroom to steal her belongings. But I've also often seen this kind of thing when a company goes under, and of course, whenever a wealthy person is dying, the vultures start roosting in the rafters.

A bit further on, GGM’s ruler would “…sign all manner of laws and decrees with his thumbprint, for in those days he did not know how to read or write, but when they left him alone with his nation and his power again he did not poison his blood again with the sluggishness of written law, but governed orally and physically, present at every moment and everywhere with a flinty parsimony….” I think that goes towards the fact that most fascists get to power by means of extra-legal processes, and they gain a following by way of personal charisma, not because they are formally qualified for the positions they hold.

Note that his underlings obeyed him blindly and to the letter, even his nonsensical commands. Brr, makes me think a bit of the charismatic ‘masculine’ power Hitler had, despite the fact that he was not physically an attractive man.

Further emphasis of GGM’s ruler’s “masculine” power, I suppose, would be the fact that he humiliates his concubines by shagging them in public like dogs, which fit with his insensitive narcissism, and is probably also a demonstration of personal power. It would also seem to be an emphasis of his masculinity, and that he’s an Alpha-male?

Just a side comment on: “……we knew it because the world went on, life went on, the mail was delivered, the municipal band played its retreat of silly waltzes on Saturday under the dusty palm trees…” Well, they’re lucky that things went on as before, because usually where corruption sneaks in, public services tend to fall apart – note for example Zimbabwean infrastructure under Robert Mugabe and the US Postal Service under he who shall not be named's Louis De Joy.

The sea seems to play a huge role in this poem-novella or whatever it is. Any ideas from you guys about the role of the sea here?

Free copy of Patriarch here: http://www.sxcsrannalibrary.co.in/sit...

Paul wrote: "It's good to have you back Trav"
Thanks Paul, good to be back! I hope this time we can hold it together. Going slow will hopefully help. :)

Oi, I haven't done a group discussion for a while, and seem to have forgotten that I always do a bit of background first. I'm pretty sure most of you know what Magical Realism is, but I see Wikipedia has a nice description of it, so I am going to copy and paste their summary verbatim:

Magic realism (also known as magical realism or marvelous realism ) is a 20th-century style of fiction and literary genre. The terms were influenced by an eponymous German painting style in the 1920s.
Aside from a different source: [people use the term New Wave Fabulism if it isn't Latin American or doesn't dramatize that particular world-view and stick to the traditions of that genre. ... It's similar to Speculative Fiction but is Literary in nature rather than Genre.]

As a literary fiction style, magic realism paints a realistic view of the modern world while also adding magical elements, often dealing with the blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality.
Magical realism, perhaps the most common term, often refers to literature in particular, with magical or supernatural phenomena presented in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting, commonly found in novels and dramatic performances.

Despite including certain magic elements, it is generally considered to be a different genre from fantasy because magical realism uses a substantial amount of realistic detail and employs magical elements to make a point about reality, while fantasy stories are often separated from reality.

Magical realism is often seen as an amalgamation of real and magical elements that produces a more inclusive writing form than either literary realism or fantasy.

The term magic realism is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous, and Matthew Strecher (1999) defines it as "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe." The term and its wide definition can often become confused, as many writers are categorized as magical realists.

Magical realism is often associated with Latin-American literature, including founders of the genre, particularly the authors María Luisa Bombal, Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Elena Garro, Mireya Robles, Rómulo Gallegos and Arturo Uslar Pietri. In English literature, its chief exponents include Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, Alice Hoffman, Nick Joaquin, and Nicola Barker. In Bengali literature, prominent writers of magic realism include Nabarun Bhattacharya, Akhteruzzaman Elias, Shahidul Zahir, Jibanananda Das and Syed Waliullah. In Japanese literature, one of the most important authors of this genre is Haruki Murakami. In Polish literature, magic realism is represented by Olga Tokarczuk, the 2018 Nobel Prize laureate in Literature.

Welcome to all that I haven't welcomed before. Apologies, I was forced through circumstances to leave GR for a while.

Members, the mods and some of the older members have decided to try and slowly try and breathe some life into the group again.

I'm posting here in an attempt to reach as many members as possible without having to send out group messages which not all Goodreaders like to receive.

In any case, we decided to start with shorter fiction so as not to get bogged down, and we're kicking off with one of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's shorter works, one which he considered his most notable, but which is not the easiest read. Therefore, probably a good one to tackle with the mutual encouragement of a group. We will start with that on October 1 on this thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Then, for the end of October, just in time for Halloween, we will be reading one of Shirley Jackson's short stories from her collection The Lottery and Other Stories, and shortly after that, still in the Halloween mood, we'll read a spooky short story by Haruki Murakami, "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova" from his collection First Person Singular: Stories

Hope to see you all on at least some of our future discussions!

Hello members, even though The Autumn of the Patriarch is a relatively short read, it's very dense, with lots of symbolism and references, so let's make a few separate threads for it. I think with this discussion, we should stay flexible, so let's keep this thread for opening impressions.

Amazon says the paperback of it is 225 pages long - so let's say keep to more or less the first 50 pages for this thread. Then we can perhaps split the remainder of the novella over another two threads. But let's see how it goes!

Please wait until October 1 before starting to post, so that we can all try and stay together as much as possible. Thank you!

EDIT: It seems the work is divided into 6 sections. GGM originally conceived of it as a poem, so I suppose you could say it has 6 stanzas?
So I was thinking perhaps we could do two stanzas per thread?

On the other hand, the first thread is always the one that draws the most comments... we could always make this thread for opening comments and impressions and references to other works and side reading. I'll wait a bit and see how the rest of you feel.

...and, while it's still there, you could always grab Chronicle here...
http://www.sxcsrannalibrary.co.in/sit...

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I'm curious now about Patriarch, but Chronicle sounds lovely too. I hope everyone else has strong opinions, because I can't decide LOL."

You could always take a sneak peek at Patriarch on that New Yorker page, if you haven't yet exhausted your NYer options...

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Oh, I like that idea. I'd like to try Marquez again. I didn't really love One Hundred Years of Solitude and I wonder if I didn't just read it a bit too early in life. Marquez, Jackson, M..."

I must warn you though, you'd probably hate Patriarch, unless you're willing to take the... er ugly parts with a pinch of salt and see it as dark humor/satire the latter which it of course is.

I discovered Marquez as a teenager, with Chronicle of a Death Foretold and the latter is, in my opinion, one of his most beautiful, most tragic, and most restrained works, and one I would re-read in a heartbeat if you guys would rather prefer to go that way.

...but on the other hand, if you actually got through Patriarch, it's sort of iconic, and a feather you could put in your cap, a sort of literary milestone, if you will, and I think it is also on the 1001-Books-You-Must-Read list.

Shall I put up a Marquez poll then for the 1st 3 weeks of October, a Jackson short for late October/early November, and
"Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova" for either late October/early November whichever way time/availability works best for you guys?
...and Magdelanye, I haven't forgotten Ben Okri, he's still on the list!