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What I'm Reading OCTOBER 2013
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Frank
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Oct 15, 2013 02:10PM
I am rereading The Sound and the Fury. It's been a few years and I'm wondering if my battle with the first two sections will be repeated. Jason was always such a despicable character I'm sure that will not change.
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Frank wrote: "I am rereading The Sound and the Fury. It's been a few years and I'm wondering if my battle with the first two sections will be repeated. Jason was always such a despicable character I'm sure th..."Faulkner's people don't change much. He's more interested in what they do, in the origins of action and the nature of people, social conditions.
Here's a link to our old discussion of The Sound and the Fury. I can't believe it was eleven years ago!http://constantreader.com/discussions...
Right now I am reading Death in Kashmir: A Mystery, someone recommended it. Starting out quite good, we already have a body found on the slopes .
Carol wrote: "Right now I am reading Death in Kashmir: A Mystery, someone recommended it. Starting out quite good, we already have a body found on the slopes."Good graciousness!
I finally got around to writing a review of The Suitors, which isn't for everyone, but might appeal to Francophiles, and those who appreciate skewering of the nouveau riche.
Finished listening to the audio version of
Maya’s Notebook by Isabel Allende – 4**** (Audio book narrated by Maria Cabezas) This is a contemporary coming-of-age novel from a novelist known for historical fiction. On a remote island off the southern coast of Chile 19-year-old Maya Vidal uses the notebook given to her by her grandmother – Nini – to record her impressions of this simple life, reflect on her past mistakes and try to come to grips with the turns her life has taken. I thought she was a believable character, and Allende is a good story-teller. I was interested and engaged from beginning to end.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
John, the politicking in Can You Forgive Her was hard to keep up with, and that's with my having studied more English history than American. I have a who's who in Trollope cheat sheet on one of my Pinterest boards. I'll try and pin the link. It helps. I thought I wasn't going to like the Pallisers series. as much as the Barsetshire one, but now on three through I love it, but for different reasons. My daughter loves me to read them to her.
Reading The City of Glass - Paul Auster. A very amusing but mentally creepy book.
Thanks, Lisa. My problem with the book is that I don't like any of the characters much, finding I agree with Victorian critics who called the story "Can You Stand Her?" referring to Alice Vavasor; I find her on-again, off-again dithering among suitors tedious. The Palliser family strikes me as Rich Peoples' Problems for the most part. I'm looking forward to The Eustace Diamonds, which I understand is more a stand-alone novel.
John wrote: "The Palliser family strikes me as Rich Peoples' Problems for the most part. I'm looking forward to The Eustace Diamonds, which I understand is more a stand-alone novel. ..."As opposed to SUITORS? :) I love THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS, it's got a marvelous villainous. I love that Trollope can do such a range of women, from the self-sufficient Miss Mackenzie to dithering Alice Vavasor to fortune-hunting Lizzie Greystock. Oh, and Laura Standish of PHINEAS FINN, so intelligent and dynamic, but alas, not as young as she once was, or as lovely as Phineas wishes she were.
Well ... yes ... Suitors is pretty far up there in terms of an elite lifestyle, but I saw a lot of satire from the author on that score.
Yes, John, she was a bit tiring. I ended up liking her. Keep an eye on Glencora; she will matter more as the series continues. Phineas Phinn introduces some great characters, especially Madame Max Gossler.
Eustace Diamonds is a blast. Lizzie Greystock Eustace is delightfully awful.
I finished Stanley Ellin's The Eighth Circle this morning. This mystery won the Edgar Award for the best mystery of the year in 1959. It was good but mainly as a look into what New York City was like for a private detective in the late 1950s I would give it only three stars out of five.I am starting to re-read Edgar Pangborn's A Mirror for Observers. I loved it when I read it about 30 years ago. I have a feeling I'll like it just as much this time.
I read Shooting the Boh: A Woman's Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo. The trip was interesting and I would have liked to read the story from the perspective of one of the guides who performed amazing tasks to end up getting the trip down the river, but the author got a free trip, selected herself to be a passenger in an oarboat (did no part of the rafting), and declared herself unable to carry anything due to an old injury, so not only did everyone else do all the work required on the descent of the river, but someone else carried her personal possessions in the dry bag too, which were all borrowed, as her duffle bag was lost on the plane there, and she apparently complained enough about her back that someone else gave her their air mattress and slept on a bare rock, and all the while as an author she was judgmental about everyone else's character. As a river lover and avid kayaker, I say yuck!
A Mirror for Observers is one of those SF books written for adults. Very fine.
Lyn wrote: "I read Shooting the Boh: A Woman's Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo. The trip was interesting and I would have liked to read the story from the perspective of one of the guides who performe..."Now that's a book I wouldn't want to read, not from that perspective.
Lisa. Get as submerged in Auster as you can and prepare for his new novel next month. My personal favorite is Moonpalace
I finished Javier Marias's All Souls. Marias was his usual convoluted self, in other words, I enjoyed it. :)On a train trip to WDC I read A Daughter of Warwick by Julie May Ruddock (a Kindle book) and almost finished The Midwich Cuckoos, but my e-version was called Children of the Damned.
Cateline wrote: "I finished Javier Marias's All Souls. Marias was his usual convoluted self, in other words, I enjoyed it. :)On a train trip to WDC I read A Daughter of Warwick by Julie May Ruddock (a Kindle boo..."
That's the name of the movie version. Also another movie--sequel--called Village of the Damned.
Sara wrote: "Cateline wrote: "I finished Javier Marias's All Souls. Marias was his usual convoluted self, in other words, I enjoyed it. :)On a train trip to WDC I read A Daughter of Warwick by Julie May Rudd..."
Yeah, I remember the film. I think I have an old paperback around here somewhere that is actually entitled The Midwich Cukoos as well. We were out of town, and I had the urge to read another Wyndham. I'd just finished The Kraken Wakes a few days earlier.
Cateline wrote: " I think I have an old paperback around here somewhere that is actually entitled The Midwich Cukoos as well. We were out of town, and I had the urge to read another Wyndham. I'd just finished The Kraken Wakes a few days earlier. ..."Over on Facebook today, I mentioned THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS movie, which was one of the least scary SF movies I ever saw. The John Wyndham novel was actually quite decent.
Robert wrote: "A Mirror for Observers is one of those SF books written for adults. Very fine."Robert, so true. So literate and with so much heart. I sat down earlier to read a little and got up after 90 pages. I must have looked at the copyright page three times, still not believing that it was a science fiction novel written in 1954. I only wish that Pangborn had written much more. This novel and Davy are easily my favorite works of his, but I've enjoyed everything that I've read of Pangborn's writing.
Larry wrote: "Cateline wrote: " I think I have an old paperback around here somewhere that is actually entitled The Midwich Cukoos as well. We were out of town, and I had the urge to read another Wyndham. I'd ju..."The film with Howard Keel was schlock. :) I'm sorry to say it, as I really liked Keel.
There is a BBC version that follows the book pretty closely. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/
I read Triffids at an early and impressionable age(about 11). Loved it. :)
Loved City of Glass. I am saving the rest of the trilogy for the next 2 months so I have them to look forward to.
Lisa wrote: "Loved City of Glass. I am saving the rest of the trilogy for the next 2 months so I have them to look forward to."It took a second reading, 6 years after the first attempt, but I finally truly enjoyed the Trilogy. Auster is one of my favorites.
I had so much fun with City of Glass. It had just about everything I could want in a book, suspense, intriguing characters, humor, philosophic and theological quandaries, Poe, Don Quixote, Milton. It was like trick or treat come early. It took much doing not to thrust it into my 15 year olds hands last night and insist that she read it right then and there. She will love it.
Robert wrote: "A Mirror for Observers is one of those SF books written for adults. Very fine."Robert, one other thought. I've tried to think how how I would succinctly describe this work and the short story REQUIEM by Robert Heinlein that we were talking it in the Heinlein Forum on Facebook. What makes them so special is that they maintain a great sense of wonder but with adult sensibility. That's so easy to say and so hard to pull off.
Slowly immersing myself into the The Alexandria Quartet, I can see why everyone enjoyed it. It is a feast for the mind. If you don 't here from me , I have been kidnapped by the story.
Larry wrote: "Cateline wrote: " I think I have an old paperback around here somewhere that is actually entitled The Midwich Cukoos as well. We were out of town, and I had the urge to read another Wyndham. I'd just finished The Kraken Wakes a few days earlier. ..."Cateline, I've never read THE KRAKEN WAKES. It certainly seems to have held up well after 60 years. Here's a complimentary review published in PASTE just a few days ago!
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...
Ugh! I agreed to be a coach for our schools North Carolina Battle of the Books which means I am slogging through the good, the bad and the ugly of this year's list. Trying to get through Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez. Very disappointing! The writing and some narrative choices are so off. I know she is a better writer than this book is showing her to be. Oh well.
Robert wrote: "A Mirror for Observers is one of those SF books written for adults. Very fine."Robert, one more thing to add here. It's the fine review by the wonderful Jo Walton:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/12/quie...
About halfway through David Shields's Reality Hunger--fascinating stuff for anyone who likes to read and think about fiction. Shields is thinking about (and advocating) the increasingly blurred lines between fiction and memoir and autobiography.
I'm reading Kate Atkinson's first book which deservedly was named the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year, "Behind the Scenes at the Museum". She is really a fine chronicler of British family life.
Robert wrote: "A Mirror for Observers is one of those SF books written for adults. Very fine."Robert, this afternoon I went looking on Amazon for used copies of two of Edgar Pangborn's non-SF novels (Wilderness of Spring and The Trial of Callista Blake. It was a most pleasant surprise to see that they have fallen into the public domain and that Amazon had free Kindle copies of these novels as well as free Kindle copies of West of the Sun and The Good Neighbors.
And, of course, you don't really need a Kindle to read these. You can use the Amazon Cloud Read or the free Kindle for the PC app.
Peter Beagle said in his afterword to A MIRROR FOR OBSERVERS that, in his opinion, A WILDERNESS OF SPRING was Pangborn's best book. It's an historical novel set in New England in colonial times.
Larry
Joan wrote: "I'm reading Kate Atkinson's first book which deservedly was named the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year, "Behind the Scenes at the Museum". She is really a fine chronicler of British family life."I've read this book twice, Joan. Once on my own, and then again when it was on our reading list. Loved it. Unfortunately, I don't think we have the archive of our discussion. It must have been when we were between servers and the discussion didn't get copied.
I am currently reading Cain's Blood
This book is very creepy and gives me the chills! If this is the future, I hope its in the very far future - where I am long gone!
Larry wrote: "Cateline, I've never read THE KRAKEN WAKES. It certainly seems to have held up well after 60 years. Here's a complimentary review published in PASTE just a few days ago!http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...
"
Great review/article! Thanks for posting. It reflects my take on the book as well.
Interestingly enough, some take the opposite view of both the book and Phyllis's character. Diametrically opposed actually. Just for fun..... http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/10/the-...
I've actually just finished another Wyndham, Village Of The Damned aka The Midwich Cuckoos, and have to say it still packs a punch. Haven't seen the film in it's entirety, only bits so cannot compare. The book contains all of Wyndham's keynotes. Stiff upper lip sorts that are honorable men and women, loyal, dependable. Ones that will 'do the right thing' in the end.
It came to me that Wyndham's characters are much like the characters that the novelist Dick Francis created with his mystery series of books. Vulnerable, honorable people that we'd love to have as friends and allies.
I've started Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome by Anthony A. Barrett. Non fiction, truthful account of the wife of Augustus, first Emperor of Rome.
Joan wrote: "I'm reading Kate Atkinson's first book which deservedly was named the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year, "Behind the Scenes at the Museum". She is really a fine chronicler of British family life."I was travelling for work, ages ago, and ran out of reading material. I picked up "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" at the airport, I think just based on the title alone, and felt really lucky, because it was a wonderful book.
I'm reading the Vincent Price bio by his daughter. Surprisingly balanced, and not so surprisingly well-written.
Robert wrote: "I'm reading the Vincent Price bio by his daughter. Surprisingly balanced, and not so surprisingly well-written."I'll check it out. I saw his original screen tests, once. He wore about a dozen or more costumes, and looked fabulous in every one of them.
One of my favorite cookbooks is by Vincent Price and his then-wife Mary. It's a gorgeous over-sized book of recipes from their favorite restaurants, but it's his personality that I find endearing! I'll have to look for the bio.
Last night I read a James Sallis novel, in one sitting, Others of My Kind: A Novel. I cannot say enough good things about it, or his writing. Poetic, spare, eloquent and hard hitting. It will break your heart, then revive your faith in humanity. His characters are complex, and straight forward at the same time. The more I think about the story, the more I love it.
Cateline wrote: "Last night I read a James Sallis novel, in one sitting, Others of My Kind: A Novel. I cannot say enough good things about it, or his writing. Poetic, spare, eloquent and hard hitting. It will bre..."Cateline,
I've read DRIVE as well as Sallis's three book TURNER series. All great books. I'll definitely look for this one also.
And your description of his characters, as complex but straightforward at the same time, really gets it right for the books that I've read.
Okay, here's the danger of reading through this entire thread in one sitting. I've added four books to my TBR list. Just finished Stoner by John Williams, recommended by someone here this summer. Loved it! Also read Robert Boswell's Tumbledown. I am a big Boswell fan, and this didn't disappoint. I think the contrast between these two books was part of the pleasure for me. I read Boswell first and it made me think about the process of writing fiction as much as it drew me into the lives of the characters. Stoner is far more straightforward narrative. I was totally mesmerized. Felt sad and uplifted and transformed by the story and the sentences.
Jane wrote: "Okay, here's the danger of reading through this entire thread in one sitting. I've added four books to my TBR list. Just finished Stoner by John Williams, recommended by someone here this summer. L..."I love Boswell too. Haven't read Tumbledown: A Novel yet, but it's on the horizon.
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