Literary Disco discussion
What would you like Literary Disco to read and why?
message 51:
by
Allison
(new)
Apr 16, 2013 07:48AM
Julia, as a fan of I Capture the Castle you should read A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle, a memoir by Liza Campbell of her tragic but funny childhood growing up in an ancient Scottish castle with a crazy father.
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I think the Pulitzer Prize winning idea mentioned by Stephanie could be interesting. It interests me personally because I read the Orphan Master's Son and loved it! I think this book in particular would be great for a podcast - it features North Korea which would be a timely topic. It's also just awesome.
Recent prize-winners and discussion of the value of literary prizes:Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, The Orphan Master's Son
Graphic Novels: Novel or Comic Book?
Persepolis, Watchman
Books based on, or parallel to classic literature:
The Solitary House, Drood, many more...
Classic science fiction:
The Man in the High Castle, Childhood's End, I, Robot
Humor:
Bossy Pants, anything by David Sedaris or P.G.Wodehouse
Mod
I'm going to need you to do an episode with Moira (Mora?), as discussed in episode 25, because I love I Capture the Castle and Stoner is one of my all-time favorit..."
Maura has agreed to do an episode! All that stands between her and us is figuring out to record her from afar....
Mod
I just received my first INDIEspensible pick in the mail from Powell's booksellers in Portland Oregon. This debut novel is called With or Without You by Domenica Ruta and it was awesome! Such a great experience discovering this new author. I wouldn't wish her childhood on my worst enemy!
I'm going to admit I found you guys when I typed into iTunes "Sweet Valley High" - just to see what would come up. (Admittedly they're still a pet obsession of mine, I'm studying literature at university and sometimes I just need an SV book to chill out with) I loved the episode! It was funny and totally relatable. I'm going to suggest The Evil Twin/Return of the Evil Twin as a throwback to your popular SVH episode - it has possibly the most convoluted plot of any SVH book ever, and I remember reading it (several times) and just eating it up. Looking back on it I never even noticed how far fetched it was and it was VERY far fetched! I think you guys would have some serious fun with that one! Keep up the awesome work, loving listening to the podcast!
Laura :)
Good books:Fahrenheit 451, Watchmen (or Sandman), Wolf Hall, Things Fall Apart.
Bad books:
Bridges of Madison County, anything by Nicholas Sparks, Twilight, A Discovery of Witches.
Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner[i predict that Rider will like it, Tod will hate it, and Julia will be in the middle]
i have a kid now who is fast growing and time will come that he will get interest on it. i'm sure of it. that's why this early i want to learn a little bit of it though it may not that effective but at least i know how am i going to deal it later. afterall, i'm an old school.buying facebook fan
You mentioned in this most recent podcast wanting something a little lighter: David Sedaris(any), "Good Omens" (Gaiman & Pratcett), "Lamb" or "Fool" (Christopher Moore), or "Bossypants" (Tina Fey).
Oh, a crappy genre fiction episode! Maybe a cheesy Danielle Steel novel...
Think you should read something by Tao Lin. Kind of the forefather of the Alt-Lit scene. His newest book Taipei is coming out on June 4th. The whole Alt-Lit group is probably the most modern/interesting literary scene going on today, and I haven't heard you mention it yet on the podcast. People LOVE it or despise it, so it would be really interesting to see what the three of you think.
I would love for you to read Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. It was my favorite book that I read last year.
Skippy Dies was good indeed. So was The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on classic scifi, e.g. something by Asimov, Clarke, Jack Vance (RIP). Or with the movie coming out later this year, Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game". Why are they classics? Why is scifi considered "genre" and not literature?Personal opinion: I don't think Clarke was a particularly good writer. He was a visionary, yes, but his books are just weird.
If you were going to take a stab at SF/Fantasy, I'd suggest Gene Wolfe's "Shadow of the Torturer". Wolfe is a writer's writer, and that book begins his magnum opus.
I’d be very interested in your thoughts on ‘House of Leaves’ by Mark Z Danielewski. I’m completely fascinated by it for a number of reasons that really make it worth the read:-It is, I suppose, genre fiction, but it is completely unbound by the rules of its genre;
-It plays a lot with narrative, and the trustworthiness of a narrator. It is a narrative within a narrative within a narrative, with each narrator posing different questions about their reliability (which is always fun!);
-It tackles a subject matter which is completely fresh. I’ve never read anything else like this.
It’s ambitious (maybe too much so). However, it is interesting, different (always to be applauded) and there is a lot of scope for discussion as it is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Plus, it's weird. And I love things that are weird.
Tampa, by Alissa Nutting. Is it just another 50 Shades of Grey? Is it an homage to Lolita? Is it receiving so much attention purely because it examines the social oddity of female pedophilia, or is there actually some literary value in Nutting's writing?I'd love to hear Literary Disco's always entertaining commentary, with a clear target for Tod's dirty jokes, about this one!
Jenna wrote: "I’d be very interested in your thoughts on ‘House of Leaves’ by Mark Z Danielewski. I’m completely fascinated by it for a number of reasons that really make it worth the read:-It is, I suppose, ge..."
Oh, I definitely second this, Jenna! I love how this book is just so entirely unique - I've never read anything like it. I think I read somewhere that it took Danielewski 10 years to write it. Interesting factoid -- Mark Z Danielewski's sister is the musician Poe (I think she had a single called "Angry Johnny" in the late 90s or so) -- and on one of the tracks on her more recent album, 'Haunted,' Mark Z Danielewski reads aloud some excerpts from House of Leaves to go with the song. It's very cool. Anyway, good choice, in my opinion!
What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
Here are some that I've had on my to-read list, but i can't personally vouch for them: Henderson the Rain King, Everything's Illuminated, Infinite Jest, White Noise. Maybe a play like The Shape of Things or Waiting for Godot.
I am curious about Interstellar Pig now from the show.
I like that you guys mix it up. I like when you read essays too. Thank you for the podcast.
I second the P.G. Wodehouse suggestion - "Piccadilly Jim" is a fantastically fun read.I just read "The Postman" by David Brin. It's not like the movie; it's (of course) much, much, much better than the movie. I enjoyed all the thinking that Gordon (the MC) did and who he was and how wonderfully real Brin's vision of Gordon felt to me. However, I'm not a writer and I'd be curious to hear some thoughts on the structure of the novel. Some readers on Goodreads think it jumps around too much (they felt confused by time/scene shifts); I felt that the dramatic shifts in the 3 parts of the book were intentional. Also, does the book hold a message, or is it just fun fiction?
Anything in World Literature. You guys need to move away from your comfort zone;)There's a saying 'move mountains beyond mountains' so move books beyond books.Think globally, act locally.
Happy searching!
I would also love to hear a discussion about Tampa by Alissa Nutting.....most podcasts don't want to touch it...I am not sure how I feel about it but she certainly did go for it...which I give her credit for.
Things Fall Apart by the late Chinua Achebe would be awesome- some fine modern African literature.
I think that I would love to hear what you all think about either The Wind-up Bird Chronicle or Remains of the Day. I love both of these books. Or how about Never Let Me Go - a sci-fi ish twist.
I agree with whoever said more books by writers of color. Junot Diaz, Tan, Chimamanda Adichie,Tayari Jone's Silver Sparrow. There are so many more.
And please stop ignoring one of the great writers of our time, Danielle Steele!!
VC Andrews. Oh, yes. Flowers in the Attic is possibly the most uncomfortable read I had as a 12 year old. I never understood why I was encouraged to read her books at that age, but I ate them up despite the high levels of anxiety I had through just about every single one. It would be interesting to see what men think of it.
Mod
There are so many more.
And please stop ignoring one of the great write..."
We will definitely be getting to some of these-- thanks for the suggestion! You've listed some writers that I absolutely love here.
Mod
We did this! It was a hilarious one. Go check out www.literarydisco.com for the episode.
Mod
This is what we're doing for our live show!
Julia wrote: "Juliette wrote: "I would also love to hear a discussion about Tampa by Alissa Nutting.....most podcasts don't want to touch it...I am not sure how I feel about it but she certainly did go for it......"Julia, will you be recording the live show?
Mod
Yes, we will. It'll be an episode in early September.
Role Models by John Waters, or at least the essay "Bookworm" and maybe the books mentioned in that essay. It would probably be a good audiobook, I think John Waters reads it himself.
I don't think this would be worth its own episode, but that you guys should nevertheless give it a try, and maybe talk about it five minutes on the show or something:During the Hardy Boys episode, someone -- might have been Tod -- mentioned the possibility of reading some Nancy Drew, to see how stories told for boys differ from stories told for girls, or something like that. That's one idea. Another would be to read something from the Famous Five or Secret Seven series, by English writer Enid Blyton. These are much the same as the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, insofar as they involve kids solving crimes, except they're set in England. I think it would make a very interesting study into how childhood cultural norms differ between England and the United States. These books are incredibly popular, and given they're read not only in the UK, but across the former British Empire, i think they have a cultural significance that is worth noting. Also, Blyton is long dead, and i think Julia mentioned during the Rumpus interview wanting to do something by a dead author?
Kevin wrote: "I don't think this would be worth its own episode, but that you guys should nevertheless give it a try, and maybe talk about it five minutes on the show or something:During the Hardy Boys episode..."
I loved the Famous Five books as a kid. They were for me (in Southern California) so very exotic, what with their rucksacks, jumpers and tins. Books like those (and the PBS show The Big Blue Marble) made me want to travel the world when I grew up.
I sent in a message to the Facebook page as well, but I vote for "Girl" and "Dream School" by Blake Nelson. For me they captured the high school and college experience for a girl (admittedly, a hipster type of girl) better than any other book I've ever read. "Dream School" is the best depiction of the liberal arts college experience I've ever come across in fiction and is my absolute favorite book of the last few years, and I'm a librarian so I read a ton! Although I'd place both those books in the adult genre, Nelson is of course a beloved YA novelist as well (his Paranoid Park was made into a movie, Recovery Road is going to be a Disney TV show, and I've heard lots of good things about Destroy All Cars). I also loved his other adult book Exile even though it didn't get much press and the reviews were middling.
A couple more of my favorites that I think would make for good discussion:Memoirs-- Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (reads like the best literary fiction) and Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven (absolutely riveting and emotional story of a backpacking trip in China gone awry)
Fiction-- The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.-- Lots of gender dynamics to discuss
Essays-- Magic Hours by Tom Bissell-- especially the essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, which would make for fantastic discussion (http://www.believermag.com/issues/200...). There is also a chapter on Melville in the book.
History book-- The Visionary State by Erik Davis. Super-groovy, eye-opening history of the weirdness that is California.
Loved the Things Fall Apart episode!I am South African and so appreciated the way you interpreted a culture that, which whilst not directly representative of my lifestyle here in a more urbanized part of SA, forms the cornerstone of millions of people's lives in my country. The book is one of my favourites; I enjoy Achebe's pedestrian and simplistic style of writing, from which the characters leap out, coloured by the readers' imaginations.
PS. Please do the 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, it's a must read! I'd love to hear what you all think about this famous novella!
Eric wrote: "Oh yeah. Night Circus. What a case of "Emperor's New Clothes" that book is!"Ugh, that book. Two of my book clubs chose it. Shocking how and why people love it. I read it twice (because I had to) and still couldn't tell you the plot!
I would love to hear an episode where you cover my favorite book, ''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' by Peter Hedges. You 3 have such unique opinions about things, and I'd love to hear what you'd say about it.
"The Education of Little Tree" by Forrest Carter. A fictionalized autobiography of a young Native American boy raised by his grandparents during the Depression. One of my all-time favorite stories.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell... would love to hear your thoughts on this short story collection. My other short story collection recommendation would be May We Shed These Human Bodies by Amber Spark.
Knowing you like to mix it up -- literary fiction, plays, essays, popular novels, etc -- I offer for your consideration The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason. I'm reading it for the second time and loving it again but struggling with the idea that it's a novel. Nonetheless, it's quite a feat, blending classics, a bit of fantasy, and definitely literary fiction. (I keep rereading sentences and paragraphs for their sheer beauty.) Julia loves The Metamorphoses, so this would be right up her alley. Give it a look even if you don't choose it for discussion. It's mesmerizing.
I would love for you to read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It's so weird fiction, something I don't think you've read/discussed yet, and I can only imagine your reactions to the content. That being said, I thought the writing, itself, was just amazing. It blew my socks off, once I got beyond the weirdness of the content.
Please review the Corrections. It seems like such a controversial book. Either one really hates or really loves it. It would seem like an interesting discussion
Julia wrote: "Hi everyone-- what books or type of books would you like us to check out? (No promises, but we're always on the lookout for good new reads. Or horrible ones.)"Sorry if I'm late to the party, just off the top of my head, didn't wanna loose it, but Mildred Pierce might be a good read for you all.
Love the show, love Rider's rants.
Audible currently has a list of popular authors sharing some of their favorite books that influenced them in their writing. One of my favorite juxtapositions--and one that made me think of Literary Disco--is from James Lee Burke, author of the Dave Robicheaux novels. His three: The Hardy Boys, Gone with the Wind, and…John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy.Will you please read The USA Trilogy or at least The 42nd Parallel and compare it with the Hardy Boys?
Obviously, this is something that ONLY Literary Disco can do. No one else has the range. Or the chutzpah.
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