What books are you reading now? (2020) Showing 1,051-1,100 of 2,222

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

That was my third Faulkner. It is more like his reputation in terms of difficulty for the reader. My review includes: Faulkner is at once simple and complex. The people are simple: their motivations not necessarily so and sometimes Faulkner makes up words, or uses words that are familiar only to these back country people. His sentence construction is sometimes non-existent, but the thought processes are more easily understood.

I am amused at the "his sentence structure is sometimes non-existent" - I do remember having to take my time with this. I'm not trying to put you off. If you're going to experience more than one Faulkner, this should be one of them. I should note that I have not yet read Absalom, Absalom!. And why not, I should ask.

[Roman Clodia]

Thanks, Elizabeth, you're certainly not putting me off, rather the opposite as I'm getting more curious to see how I respond to Faulkner.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I look forward to hearing about your journey!

[Tania]

I finished Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon and would like to get hold of Memoirs of an Infantry Officer soon.infantry
For now, I've started Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson for another group. Love the Illustrations in this one.

[Chrissie]

Iris Murdoch has become my latest favorite author. Here is another really, really good book by her-- The Black Prince.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo. The writing is good, but I have not come very far yet. Several of you have mentioned Evaristo as being a good author.

[Joy D]

Published in 1996 and set mostly in 1951, this hidden gem is a light and fun historical fiction about time traveling back to the days of Hank Williams:

Carry Me Back by Laura Watt - 4 stars - My Review

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Joy D wrote: "Published in 1996 and set mostly in 1951, this hidden gem is a light and fun historical fiction about time traveling back to the days of Hank Williams:"

Back to my childhood.

[Chrissie]

Bernardine Evaristo is a contemporary author to keep an eye on. I enjoyed Mr. Loverman, except for the ending.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am testing now another contemporary author--Graham Swift. The book chosen is Waterland.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I hope you like Graham Swift, Chrissie. I liked Waterland, but it is not a happy book.

[Jill]

I really liked Waterland, but two friends I lent it to couldn't get on with it

[Judy]

I liked Waterland a lot too, but definitely quite disturbing. The film with Jeremy Irons was also good, as I recall.

[Chrissie]

Waterland has definitely captured my interest. You must pay attention, the way it jumps around in time doesn't make it simple to follow. I am not lost, no yet at least. I like the prose. It plays with ideas in ways that I like, on example being that stars are bits of heaven.

Sounds promising, since many of you have liked it.

I don't mind disturbing books. I prefer them over unrealistic fluff.

[Roman Clodia]

I also liked Waterland and still vividly remember one scene... which I won't mention for fear of spoilers. But I've never fancied any of Swift's other books.

[Val]

Waterland is on my to-read list and I have read a couple of other Swift books, so perhaps I should move it up the priority list.
I have been finishing off some of my part-read short story collections and reading some of the books I downloaded to my original kindle. (The battery won't charge, so I had stopped using it.) There is not anything I would really recommend, but it has kept me going until the libraries reopen.
Southampton have now published their plans; they are doing click and collect only from Monday until the end of the month, but that means I can collect those of my reservations which were not out on loan to someone else.

[Chrissie]

I do like Waterland, but tell me what is the advantage of jerking back and forth in time in the telling of a story?! This has become so popular nowadays!

Am I the only one to note the satire?

It is pretty easy to see the connection between the drowning and the thread describing the historical development in the Fens--the brewery and the shipping.

[Hugh]

I read Waterland years ago but don't remember it clearly enough to comment, though I know I liked it. Have read several other Swift novels too, mostly before I joined GR

[Nigeyb]

I was a little underwhelmed by Waterland


Here’s my review

Chrissie wrote: "I do like Waterland, but tell me what is the advantage of jerking back and forth in time in the telling of a story?! This has become so popular nowadays!"

Ah yes, the old non-linear narrative.

Perhaps it mirrors the water running in different directions?

Perhaps Swift thought it was a more interesting way of telling the stories?

Either way, it was something I struggled with. As I say in my review...

Sometimes, when I picked this up, I thought how good it was, however it never truly grabbed me: the non linear structure, multiple narratives, and contrasting styles, were ultimately too jarring.

[Chrissie]

Nigeyb wrote: "I was a little underwhelmed by Waterland


Here’s my review

Chrissie wrote: "I do like Waterland, but tell me what is the advantage of jerking back and forth in time in..."

I don't want to read your review until AFTER I have completed it and written my own review. I like to see what I think uninfluenced by what others say.

But I liked your statement--"Perhaps it mirrors the water running in different directions?"

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I loved this, as I’ve said and it’s non-linear ness. The opening paragraph speaks to history. Telling history is not linear. We are in the present and our memories jump around.

My Review

[Hugh]

Just realised I haven't posted any reviews here since late May. I haven't stopped reading - these are the missing ones:

The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge   My review

Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón   My review

Treasures of Time by Penelope Lively   My review

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James   My review

Exquisite Cadavers by Meena Kandasamy   My review

Operation Wandering Soul by Richard Powers   My review

Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym   My review

It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track by Ian Penman   My review

Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie   My review

Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty   My review

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy   My review

Quarantine by Jim Crace   My review

Europa by Tim Parks   My review

The Essence of the Thing by Madeleine St John   My review

The Underground Man by Mick Jackson   My review

Belladonna by Daša Drndić   My review

A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o   My review

I have also started Under The Frog by Tibor Fischer

[Nigeyb]

Extraordinary Hugh - thanks

[Roman Clodia]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Telling history is not linear. We are in the present and our memories jump around."

I'd agree with this and also Nigeyb's point about the flow of water.

Cultural theory connected to modernism and post-modernism also engages with these ideas of fragmented narratives and the operation of memory. It's partly a response to the linearity of nineteenth century narratives.

I heartily agree with Chrissie's original point that it's so over-used as a storytelling technique now in everything from lit fic to throwaway airport thrillers.

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: " Telling history is not linear. We are in the present and our memories jump around.
"

Elizabeth, that makes sense to me. Good explanation.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I heartily agree with Chrissie's original point that it's so over-used as a storytelling technique now in everything from lit fic to throwaway airport thrillers.
."

I agree that sometimes the method is just a gimmick. But I also think that sometimes it is the best way of telling the story.

[Roman Clodia]

Yes, it can be the best way to tell a particular story - just sometimes I feel it's a knee-jerk reaction from authors who haven't really thought about alternatives. I'm thinking especially of popular domestic noir and similar - I've had to stop reading them out of irritation!

[Joy D]

Published in 1986 and set in 1948-1950 in Japan, this book is a deep character study of a retired artist. Themes include conflict avoidance, differences in generations, the desire for a meaningful life, and how memories are altered over time to conform to one’s self-concept.

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro - 4 stars - My Review

[Susan]

I just finished, and loved, this months buddy read The Death of the Heart I was not sure I could love Elizabeth Bowen but this novel made me determined to read all of her novels that I haven't yet read.

I have just embarked on an interesting looking NetGalley book, The Quickening

[Chrissie]

Susan wrote: "I just finished, and loved, this months buddy read The Death of the Heart I was not sure I could love Elizabeth Bowen but ..."

I liked that one by Bowen a lot too--excellent prose and characters that live and breathe . The others I have read by her have not been as good.

[Susan]

I am a huge Bowen fan and have enjoyed all the books I have read by her so far. The Death of the Heart was fabulous though - a bit special and I am pleased I have read it.

[Chrissie]

RC and Elizabeth, I am approaching the end of Waterland. My appreciation of it grows the further I go. I agree that the nonlinear telling is remarkably well done by Swift,

[Roman Clodia]

Susan, delighted to hear you loved the Bowen! I'll be getting to it very soon. I do think she's very good at getting into the head of young women and their first ventures into the world.

[Roman Clodia]

Chrissie wrote: "RC and Elizabeth, I am approaching the end of Waterland. My appreciation of it grows the further I go. I agree that the nonlinear telling is remarkably well done by Swift,"

Oh good - looking forward to your review :)

[Judy]

Chrissie, I also remember really liking Last Orders by Graham Swift - I must have read it pre Goodreads.

[Chrissie]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "RC and Elizabeth, I am approaching the end of Waterland. My appreciation of it grows the further I go. I agree that the nonlinear telling is remarkably well done by S..."

I don't know how to write a review. I liked it a lot so I know I must give it four stars. I have to figure out WHY I have enjoyed it so much. I don't really understand my reaction.

[Chrissie]

Judy wrote: "Chrissie, I also remember really liking Last Orders by Graham Swift - I must have read it pre Goodreads."

I have added that now to my wish-list. Isn't that what he got a Booker for?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Judy wrote: "Chrissie, I also remember really liking Last Orders by Graham Swift - I must have read it pre Goodreads."

That is the other by Swift that I have read. I thought I had read more - it must just be that I'm planning to read more.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Chrissie wrote: "Judy wrote: "Chrissie, I also remember really liking Last Orders by Graham Swift - I must have read it pre Goodreads."

I have added that now to my wish-list. Isn't that w..."

Yes, and that book also won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

[Jill]

I think I was just about to read Last Orders when they put the film on the TV , so I put it off and forgot about it

[Joy D]

Published in 1993 and set in Louisiana in 1947, a teacher is asked to counsel a condemned man before he dies for a crime he did not commit. The story shows the struggles of the black community living in the era of Jim Crow laws and segregation. It brings them to a personal level, showing how difficult it is to live with dignity in the shadow of racism. Grant has no desire to attempt to “teach” moral knowledge, but he does it out of courtesy to his aunt and her friend. Initially there is little response from Jefferson but in the end, they both learn “a lesson before dying.” The tone is mostly bleak, but somehow the author ends it with a tiny ray of hope, and this is no small feat considering the subject matter. It is a powerful and emotional story.

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J.Gaines - 4 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

Here is a contemporary author I like a lot--Graham Swift. I think you should read Waterland. Many, but not al,l here in this group have liked it.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey. I wonder if it will say something about her murder. It is her extended fieldwork with the gorillas that interests me most.

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Judy wrote: "Chrissie, I also remember really liking Last Orders by Graham Swift - I must have read it pre Goodreads."

I have added that now to my wish-l..."

Sounds promising.

[Chrissie]

Joy D wrote: "Published in 1993 and set in Louisiana in 1947, a teacher is asked to counsel a condemned man before he dies for a crime he did not commit. The story shows the struggles of the black community livi..."

I found that a very emotive book. I gave it four too!

[Roman Clodia]

I finished the disappointing Face It, an autobiography by Debbie Harry, and have just started listening to the audiobook Widow Basquiat.

Coincidentally, Debbie Harry was the first to buy one of Basquiat's paintings, and he played a DJ in one of her films.

So with these and On The Road, I'm having a counter-cultural moment!

[Joy D]

Published in 1988 by a Brazilian author:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - 3 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

Joy D wrote: "Published in 1988 by a Brazilian author:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - 3 stars - My Review"

I never understood he that got to be so popular!

[Joy D]

Published in 1991 and set in 1917, I found myself totally immersed in this marvelous book about a psychiatrist and his patients suffering from PTSD:

Regeneration by Pat Barker - 5 stars - My Review

[Joy D]

Chrissie wrote: "I never understood he that got to be so popular!"

This was the first book I had read by Coelho. It didn't inspire me to read more, but if anyone has a suggestion for one they really enjoyed, I will give it a try.

[Nigeyb]

Joy D wrote: "Published in 1991 and set in 1917, I found myself totally immersed in this marvelous book about a psychiatrist and his patients suffering from PTSD: Regeneration"

Regeneration is a splendid read

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Nigeyb wrote: "Joy D wrote: "Published in 1991 and set in 1917, I found myself totally immersed in this marvelous book about a psychiatrist and his patients suffering from PTSD: Regeneration"

Regeneration is a splendid read"

Yes. I think this was my first by Pat Barker, surely couldn't have started in a better place. As one with an interest in all things WWI, I learned a lot from this novel and the others in the series as well.

[Jan C]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Nigeyb wrote: "Joy D wrote: "Published in 1991 and set in 1917, I found myself totally immersed in this marvelous book about a psychiatrist and his patients suffering from PTSD: [book:Regeneration|..."

I think I'm still reading it - lost somewhere on my kindle.