Reading the 20th Century discussion
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What books are you reading now? (2020)
Published in 1994 and is set in 1954, with flashbacks to WWII and covering the Japanese internment during the war, this novel is beautifully written in a traditional style with a strong storyline, vivid setting, and deeply drawn characters. It is engrossing, creative, and engenders an emotional response. It meets all my criteria for an exceptional reading experience. I loved it and have added it to my list of favorites. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - 5 stars - My Review
Joy D wrote: "Published in 1994 and is set in 1954, with flashbacks to WWII and covering the Japanese internment during the war, this novel is beautifully written in a traditional style with a strong storyline, ..."Yeah, I liked that one a lot too. For me, his books after that were never as good.
Barbara, nice to know you think the same.
Riceyman Steps is another VERY good book by Arnold Bennett. There has been a lively discussion here in the group. Some of us have liked it a lot and some don't.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have begun another one of Bernd Heinrich's books. This time it will be White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows.
I am reading An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. I learned of it via my Real Life book discussion group only a couple of weeks ago. This author has a mystery series. This one is not a mystery, but sort of in the same category. My challenge group has a Women in Translation task this season. I have several penciled in for the task, but not sure I'll get to others besides this one.
Just finished a book that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1965. It is Southern Gothic in a similar vein as Faulkner. It was published at the height of the American Civil Rights movement, and is a takedown of racial intolerance in the south:The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau - 4 stars - My Review
Joy D wrote: "Just finished a book that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1965. It is Southern Gothic in a similar vein as Faulkner. It was published at the height of the American Civil Rights movement, and ..."For me, Shirley Ann Grau is even better than Carson McCullers. My two favorites by Grau are The Hard Blue Sky and The Condor Passes. The only one I thought to be just OK was Roadwalkers. She deserves to be better well known. I have read everything I can get my hands on by her.
Joy D wrote: "Just finished a book that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1965. It is Southern Gothic in a similar vein as Faulkner. It was published at the height of the American Civil Rights movement, and ..."You've been reading some good books! I liked that one too.
Having finished The Elderly Lady, I started Olive, Again. It picks up where Olive Kitteridge leaves off. I"m so glad to back with another Elizabeth Strout.
I can recommend picking up White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows by Bernd Heinrich. It is his latest book.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have never read anything by P.G. Wodehouse, which is ridiculous, I am not so sure the very British humor will work for me, but I want to at least give him a try. I have started Piccadilly Jim. I don't like how a zillion names are thrown at me; I hope I can keep straight who is who.
My father-in-law used to make a cheat sheet for all the names. Wodehouse does tend to have quite a lot of them.
Mod
Many of P.G. Wodehouse's stories are set in England, but he was rarely living there in the twentieth century and was often writing for the US market, so I don't think he should be too 'English' to read anywhere.
I am so far not all that enthused. This one begins at least in the US--NYC. I don't like being confused, and that is I think the intention here. Is this going to be slapstick humor???????Lynaia, Judy and Val, thanks for the encouragement.....I need it.
Lynaia, Judy and Val,Well you guys, listening to Piccadilly Jim this morning I DID actually start laughing--there was a comparison made between cricket and baseball. It was funny. Then the master of the house, this is now in London, makes himself out to be the butler and answers the door. So in fact, this is funny and I am enjoying it. I wonder what I will think by the end. Will I get bored? At least I know now who is who.
Mod
for next month. I always forget how brilliant Shirley Jackson is, until I pick her up again and am thrilled to be back in her worlds.
Well now I know P.G. Wodehouse is not for me. I explain why in my short review of Piccadilly Jim:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am about to begin Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson. I have been reading and comparing different donkey books.
Chrissie wrote: "Well now I know P.G. Wodehouse is not for me. I explain why in my short review of Piccadilly Jim:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
At least you decided for certain. To me, even the descriptions are off-putting.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Well now I know P.G. Wodehouse is not for me. I explain why in my short review of Piccadilly Jim:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
At ..."
I had never tried P.G. Wodehouse before b/c I thought they would not fit me. It is just that I listen to what others say and think there must be something wrong with ME, and I think to be fair I should at least try one.
Chrissie wrote: "think there must be something wrong with ME."Learn to trust yourself. There are always going to be thousands upon thousands of books you will not find time for anyway.
Chrissie wrote: "Well now I know P.G. Wodehouse is not for me. I explain why in my short review of Piccadilly Jim:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Good review Chrissie! And I can understand your reaction because that's what I used to think about Wodehouse. Funnily enough I came back to him not so long ago and, maybe my sense of humour has changed but I found him really funny. But then I used to really dislke red wine too, but now.........
So Wodehouse is like a fine bottle of red wine. Okay, not fine wine, just good, fairly cheap and easy to go down red wine.Piccadilly Jim is very early Wodehouse and not one I would have suggested. (But then I suggested Conrad's Victory too so...) It has only a 4.04 Goodreads rating while most of the Jeeves or Blandings books are between 4.2 and 4.4. For someone to rate any Wodehouse only 1 star, I'd normally say to to avoid him, but then you are different from other readers and you often vary from 1 to 5 stars within the same author (i.e. D.H. Lawrence).
However, since it's humor, I agree it's probably best for you to avoid P.G. in the future. Humor can be gruelling if it doesn't touch your funnybone. And it varies for each person. Since I enjoyed Wodehouse, a friend thought for sure I'd enjoy Three Men in A Boat, which didn't make me laugh at all.
Brian wrote: "not fine wine, just good, fairly cheap and easy to go down red wine...."That's the only kind I know anything about Brian!
I've just dug out a book to re-read which has a similar feel to PGW although perhaps more ironic than 'silly'. That's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.
Mr. Blandings, a successful New York advertising executive, and his wife want to escape the confines of their tiny midtown apartment. They design the perfect home in the idyllic country, but soon they are beset by construction troubles, temperamental workmen, skyrocketing bills, threatening lawyers, and difficult neighbors. Mr. Blandings' dream house soon threatens to be the nightmare that undoes him.
Has anyone read it? They made a good film of it too, with Cary Grant. Also Tom Hanks starred in a film based on it, called The Money Pit.
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by José Saramago - 4 stars - My Full ReviewShort Review:
Published in 1984, this book blends magical realism, historical fiction, and literary fiction. The year is 1935 to 1936, and the backdrop is the rise of the fascist movement in Europe. This is a philosophical novel, filled with musings on life, love, art, literature, politics, religion, history, and death. It is character driven and the plot is sparse.
Saramago’s style is not for everyone. He employs long paragraphs, stretching over many pages. Dialogue is embedded within these paragraphs. For me, this type structure is hard on the eyes, as it provides no natural stopping places for reflection (and this book requires lots of reflection). I have to say though, I found it kept my interest and I learned quite a bit about Portuguese history and literature.
Another donkey book is now completed--Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes] by Robert Louis Stevenson. Given that Stevenson wrote it, it is considered a classic.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just picked up another donkey book--Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall. All are completely different one from the other!
Mod
And, having just finished Wolf Hall, so ends one of the great reading experiences of my life
What a book. What a trilogy
Here’s my review
5/5
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A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
...which is my latest real world book group choice (don't fret, the meeting is going to take place online)
I seem to recall I tried to read it once before but got bored so hoping I am more receptive second time round
Any fans here?
John Kennedy Toole’s novel took the Pulitzer prize in 1981, making it one of a small number of posthumous winners – and the only one with such a large gap between its author’s death and publication. The novel was released almost 20 years after Toole finished writing it – and more than 11 years after the author killed himself just outside Biloxi, Mississippi, in March 1969.
While he lived, Toole had been unable to find a publisher for his grand comic masterpiece. The picaresque adventures of the hot-dog-touting slob Ignatius J Reilly had caught the attention of Robert Gottlieb, a senior editor at Simon & Schuster (and the man who discovered Catch-22), but after a two-year correspondence he told Toole he couldn’t publish the book as it stood.
The rejected author fell into despair, and began to exhibit signs of severe illness. By the time he died aged just 31, Toole had also been unable to hold down his teaching job and had become erratic in his behaviour, as well as increasingly dishevelled and paranoid.
It’s too simple to ascribe this sick man’s suicide to his failure to find a publisher, but there’s no denying that Toole’s tragedy is compounded by the fact that he never knew how much A Confederacy of Dunces would come to mean to the world.
Once he had decided it would never be published, Toole shoved his manuscript on top of an armoire in his bedroom. As far as he ever knew, that’s where it stayed. Luckily for posterity, his mother Thelma found the book in 1971. She spent the next five years trying to get it published, until, miraculously, she got through to a writer who was teaching at a university in Toole’s native New Orleans.
Having finished one 900 page epic on Sunday, I have just started reading The Eighth Life which is even longer!
Nigeyb wrote: "I'm underway with....A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
...which is my latest real world book group choice (don't fret, the meeting is going to take place..."
I haven't read it for a few years now but I absolutely loved it. It does seem to be a book that divides opinion.
Mod
I've managed about 50 pages and, after a little period of acclimatisation, I now appear to "get it" and am laughing like a drain
Ignatius J. Reilly - what a character
Top hole! Long may your laughter continue.
Mod
How are you finding it, Hugh? I've just got a copy from NetGalley but haven't started it yet.
Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougallMy review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have gone on to The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence.. Having recently enjoyed some of his shorter pieces, I now want to test one that is long.
Roman Clodia wrote: "How are you finding it, Hugh? I've just got a copy from NetGalley but haven't started it yet."Enjoying it so far but I am only 100 pages in, so a bit early to tell
Just completed The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence. Gosh, what magnificent writing! My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have begun A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold. A classic of nature writing.
Published in 2004, the bulk of the storyline takes place in 1948 and "Before." Its primary strength in the characters. Levy weaves together multiple voices into a thought-provoking narrative that sheds light on the history of race and class in Britain. Each of the four tells his or her story in first person, so the reader becomes well-acquainted with them. Some are more likeable than others, but all feel authentic. The writing is richly detailed, providing a vivid sense of what life was like at the time in England, India, and Jamaica. Parts of this story are gut-wrenching and engender a feeling of outrage at the racial hatred directed toward the Jamaican characters. The author uses sarcastic humor to help develop the characters’ relationships and provide a break between harsh scenes. The ending is particularly emotional and well-crafted, providing a ray of hope for the future.
Small Island by Andrea Levy - 4 stars - My Full Review
Chrissie wrote: "Just completed The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence. Gosh, what magnificent writing! "I'm so glad to see you remark on the writing. I was so disappointed in his Lady Chatterly's Lover, and as much for the writing as the novel as a whole. I thought I'd just skip anything else by him despite having liked his writing style in a nonfiction entry. I am encouraged!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Just completed The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence. Gosh, what magnificent writing! "I'm so glad to see you remark on the writing. I was so disappointed in h..."
I gave Lady Chatterly's Lover one star..............
Published in 2019 but covering 1929 - 1946, about the Red Orchestra resistance cell in Germany during the rise of fascism in Germany leading up to WWII:Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini - 5 stars - My Review
Yesterday I finished A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold. It is a classic piece of nature writing that should be read. It has become a classic for a reason! It is, however, not as good as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yesterday night I began Writers & Lovers by Lily King, the author's latest. So far, she has gotten my attention and has had me chuckling. I so want this to be good. I am searching for contemporary authors above the ordinary.
I am reading The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. Wry humor at the beginning (don't fall over in a faint that I would say that) over Carruthers thinking he was going Yachting, capital Y and complete with crew, only to find Davies has a 30 foot sailboat and barely enough room for the two of them. I have arrived at the place in the novel for the spy part to begin.
I have completed Lily King's latest novel--Writers & Lovers.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My favorite of hers remains Euphoria.
I have begun Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She was the first elected female head of state in Africa.
Mod
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I am reading The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. Wry humor at the beginning (don't fall over in a faint that I would say that) over Carruthers thinking he was..."We read The Riddle of the Sands here in 2018
Here is the thread https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thanks, Jill. I'll pop over there when I've finished.
Just finished this classic (published in 1956):Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - 4 stars - My Review
Joy D wrote: "Just finished this classic (published in 1956):Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - 4 stars - My Review"
For me, that book by Baldwin was worth five stars--totally amazing. The writing, the characters, its themes and how it all hols together make it a magnificent book
Been in a Jane Austen mood lately. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and just finished Mansfield Park. The one plus to quarantine is the time to read. Will be glad to get back to normal though.
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
Anna of the Five Towns (other topics)Riceyman Steps: A Novel (other topics)
Anna of the Five Towns (other topics)
Riceyman Steps: A Novel (other topics)
The Namesake (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
P.G. Wodehouse (other topics)Jhumpa Lahiri (other topics)
Arnold Bennett (other topics)
Vladimir Nabokov (other topics)
Arturo Pérez-Reverte (other topics)
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That's nice.