On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
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John
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Jul 29, 2014 09:48AM
Josh you are too kind. I noticed it had been awhile since you had read it.
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Mike have you tried Islands in the Stream
Ernest Hemingway
. Published posthumously. My favorite of his. And yes there is! A quiz
I am currently reading 'Absalom Absalom' by William Faulkner. It is a tough read and taking more than a week. However, the way Faulkner connected several apparently disjointed narratives to construct a coherent whole is fascinating, once you stop trying to breeze through the lines and remember what Hemingway once said about giving each line the time it took to write them, or something to that effect. It is a disturbing read nonetheless and the images that it evokes are all the more prominent and burnt to the mind in spite or specifically because of the subtle narrative which they (images) are contained within.
I love that novel! It's very applicable to today, and there is much wisdom beneath the story and its words.
Mod
Ernest Hemingway. Published posthumously. My favorite o..."Islands in the Stream is on my summer read list. The manuscript of the novel was found in a trunk at Hemingway's house in Key West. And this one will be a first read for me. I also never got around to To Have and Have Not so that's in the very soon list as well. I've been reading the Reynolds' five volume bio. Fascinating.
Mod
Great comments on Absalom, Absalom!. Nice to hear you're reading it.
Mike wrote: "Dhiman wrote: "I am currently reading 'Absalom Absalom' by William Faulkner. It is a tough read and taking more than a week. However, the way Faulkner connected several apparently disjointed narrat..."Thanks Mike. Just finished the book. Having trouble in focusing on any other linguistic structure that doesn't contain page long sentences or employs brevity as a literary technique. A tremendously satisfying read nonetheless.
Will be starting with Thomas Wolfe's 'You Can't Go Home Again' shortly.
Mod
You're most welcome. I'm so glad you found it a satisfying read. It comes in second on my favorite Faulkner list. For me, Light in Augustreally struck a chord in me during my reading of it. However, Absalom, Absalom! comes in as a very close second on that list.
Glad to hear you'll be taking up Look Homeward, Angel. And be sure to join us for our August reads, too!
Dhiman, welcome to the club. Here is a link to somee Faulkner quizzes. You will see A/A among the list. Good luck .https://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/by_...
Mod
Not sure this is the right place, but a trail friend shared this on my timeline today and if true I am OVERJOYED for the news. Never thought we'd ever see Gay's other work make it's way to print:http://www.dzancbooks.org/blog/2014/7...
I hope it's true. That would be wonderful!
Mod
..."
I hope it's true, I hope it's true. If you believe in faeries, clap your hands!
Hey Diane - I am juggling books ! HA! I have not sat still to write one review yet!!! My new Mac has a new word program to me!!! I HAVE NEVER OWNED A MAC !!! So, yesterday I was trying to work with my iPages program and it is not going to well!! LOL!! I suppose I need to be reading a book about using my computer!!! I read a Great mystery by Tara French, from Ireland. She writes a modern day detective series ( easy reads) . I had to take a break. The first in the many mystery series is called In The Wood. I ate it for desert . The book was a little slow and most action on the back end but a unique story. Since it introduces you to the detectives in this series , you spend time getting use to them and one is semi- involved in the crime in the wood when he was 8.
I was going to read An Unnecessary Woman to take a break from the history part of WWI after I enjoyed Jeffrey's review , but Sue reminded me it was not a WWI read. So it sits. So, I did read Kaye Hinckley's new book of shorts called Birds of A Feather and I loved it very much! That is the review I have been trying to get written. It should have been out already. I finished it a month ago, but had another friend who asked me to review his book that came out two weeks ago I finished and have ready to review.
Then, our goodreads author and friend Randy Thornhorn asked me to read his book and review Kestral Waters which is quite unique so far. I started it when i received it Sat. I also have reviews for some other books that need to go online.
As far as reading, I am reading Poachers, and I missed The Devil All the Time because I wanted to finish reading William Styron's Lie Down In Darkness which was sublime!!!! I have a WWI book at the Library to pick up that I was excited about. It is the book that follows the war with real life stories of people as it goes through the time; short stories from real happenings.
So , I may actually be reading only 3 this Week !!! It is just finding time to type a good review. If an author writes a darn good book , they deserve a darn good review. That is just how I feel!!! Having been a teacher in the past , I know how hard it is to write and it is still harder when you have to motivate yourself . Reviews are not book reports!! They analyze the author and what the book says as one. A book review is personal like a food critic. Why was it so important that the author decided to write the book? What was he/ she trying so hard to tell readers? Why was it so important that readers know this message? Maybe there are several messages. From where was this message coming from in this author's heart , soul, or past? Why did he/she choose to write her story in this setting or using these characters?
It all seems so important to me when I start to review a book. It is as though I am grading that person's child on whether or not the child goes forward to the next grade. You want the child to be prepared. So you have to say what might be lacking in your opinion, but that is only your opinion. Maybe you love the child so much you can't see some minor errors in plot or flaws in editing. You don't want the child to go on and then a teacher wonder how on earth they made it that far. It is just so difficult. I always had high expectations for the kids when I taught. Those teachers that would always give B's and never an A. I had my share of hearing , " No one is Perfect ". I had professors that held back as though I needed to work harder. It came hard enough. HA!
I do not know why I am thinking so about reviews today, but I really do think we all should care more. I know I should. I put my two cents of encouragement or argument to defend an author or book here and there all the time. I probably have made quite a few people mad because I don't think it is nice to not say you loved the book but the ending sucked so I gave it one star!!! I have been in those fights a plenty. Then to have someone tell me I can't objectively judge a book because I am of a certain race, sex, profession, religion, etc... When you put the personal in an argument that gets ugly because a review is personal. A REPORT is just facts but a REVIEW helps people to decide whether or not they want to read that book. BUT I NEVER HAVE PUT ANYTHING OFFENSIVE IN MY REVIEWS OR ARGUMENTS. Some have! Do we have guidelines for our reviews? I didn't even think about that. I was just writing as I would in a college classroom. Ummm? I better ask? Do you think I need a cheat sheet downloaded from MAC to type with??? I am going to eat a Tomato sandwich and rest my eyes a bit... Thanks Diane! Dawn. I LOVE TO READ AND WRITE BUT REVIEWS ARE IMPORTANT !!!!
ME TOO !!!!! Dawn :-) I LOVED THE LONG WAY HOME !!!!!
Does anyone but me *not* know Florence King? I recently discovered her in a collection of autobiographical writings by Southern authors. If you need a light but very pleasurable read, this may be it. I'm currently reading Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady. It's both genuinely funny and a rich depiction of a WWII childhood. I don't think her humor is quite as subtle as Bailey White's. But she's still a fine comic writer.
Mod
I found out the news on William Gay's work today also. I cannot even begin to tell yall how happy I am about this. He is my favorite writer and I was sure that with his death and the upheaval that followed that we would never see his unpublished work. This MIRACLE has made my day! I read an older interview of Mr. Gay's a year or so ago and even he thought that "The Lost Country" was and would be his finest work to date. So if the man himself thought it was great, then I know it will stand the test of time and southern literature in my heart. Even though I don't smoke, I have a good friend that smokes Marlboro Reds (Mr. Gay's cigarette of choice) and I plan on asking him for one tomorrow and place it beside my collection of Gay's books in honor if this amazing news! I did the same thing when he passed, and maybe I can do it again whenever everything is published, to have a trinity of symbolic gesture.
I'm so happy, yall!
To quote my favorite story of his, whenever I have collected his entire body of published work, I will be able to place my hands upon that stack of books and say "My hand is just fine where it is."
I'm so happy, yall!
To quote my favorite story of his, whenever I have collected his entire body of published work, I will be able to place my hands upon that stack of books and say "My hand is just fine where it is."
Mike wrote: "Josh wrote: "Not sure this is the right place, but a trail friend shared this on my timeline today and if true I am OVERJOYED for the news. Never thought we'd ever see Gay's other work make it's wa...""He halted in the shade of a cottonwood and unslung the bag and dropped it and looked up, shading his eyes. The sky was a hot cobalt blue but westward darkened in indelible increments to a lusterless metallic gray, the color he imagined the seas might turn before a storm. A few birds passed beneath him with shrill, broken cries as if they divined some threat implicit in the weather and he thought it might blow up a rain." William Gay, The Long Home
Can you think of any other passage anywhere that creates a more poetic, character-revealing, warning of 'something to come' than this? I love it.
Plus, try reading that passage aloud and see how it flows off your tongue. I think this is one reason why readers love Gay.
Kaye I love that one, but my favorite, for the same reasons you reference, is the set up to my favorite scene in Provinces (the rattlesnake falling from the hawk):"It had not rained for some time and the road lay thick with a dust pale and fine as talcum. It rose light as smoke with the old man's footfalls and hung suspended and weightless in the air, whitened the cuffs of his trousers and pressed itself covertly into the webbing of his shoe laces. It was early but already hot. The sun lay over the eastern horizon and burned its way toward him through the trees with a bluegold light. When he crosses from the road onto the edge of the fallow field the earth beneath the trees where the wild oats did not grow was pale and baked hard as clay from a kiln, faulted with cracks and crosshatched lines like defects in the surface structure of the earth itself."
I have I Hate to See that Evening Sun Go Down on my book shelf. I guess I had better move it to the coffee table for more immediate attention!
Larry wrote: "I have I Hate to See that Evening Sun Go Down on my book shelf. I guess I had better move it to the coffee table for more immediate attention!""The Paperhanger" is probably the one story that, while not my favorite ever, sticks in my head above any other. I can't get it out of my head.
Josh wrote: "Kaye I love that one, but my favorite, for the same reasons you reference, is the set up to my favorite scene in Provinces (the rattlesnake falling from the hawk):"It had not rained for some time..."
Yes. Beautiful. Always in Gay, we are integral parts of the world around us--which he so concretely, and emotionally, describes!
I just got done with animal farm.
It was really good but I did not get the ending.
It was really good but I did not get the ending.
Has this group read Provinces of Night? What a truly wonderful book. My review is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
For those who are familiar with West Virginia, have an interest in environmental issues, or just like a "weighty" read every now and then, I can suggest Strange as This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Deborah wrote: "Has this group read Provinces of Night? What a truly wonderful book. My review is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."No, Deborah, the only Gay we have read as a group was The Long Home, but if you will nominate Provinces next time Mike asks for nominations you'll certainly have my vote.....I think it is my favorite book ever.
Josh wrote: "if you will nominate Provinces next time Mike asks for nominations you'll certainly have my vote"Nice to see some campaigning for nominations and votes!!! Maybe we can increase the voter turnout! Wouldn't that be nice.
I am new to this group and thread, so apologies if this one has already been mentioned. My favorite southern lit read so far in 2014 was The Homecoming of Samuel Lake which I found difficult to put down. My review is here if interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cher, way to charge in there with a strong recommendation. I'd never heard of this one prior to your mention of it here and based on your outstanding review it just bumped a few on its way towards the top if my pile. Might even get recommended by me as a group read? Welcome and thanks for contributing to the group!!
Mod
From the goodreads page:
The New York Times bestselling author of Serena—the basis of the Fall 2014 movie starring Academy Award-winner Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper—illuminates lives shaped by violence, passion, and a powerful connection to the land in this haunting tale set in contemporary Appalachia
Les, a long-time sheriff nearing retirement, contends with the ravages of poverty and crystal meth on his small Appalachian town. Nestled in a beautiful hollow of the Appalachians, his is a tight-knit community rife with secrets and suspicious of outsiders.
Becky, a park ranger, arrives in this remote patch of North Carolina hoping to ease the anguish of a harrowing past. Searching for tranquility amid the verdant stillness, she finds solace in poetry and the splendor of the land.
A vicious crime will plunge both sheriff and ranger into deep and murky waters, forging an unexpected bond between them. Caught in a vortex of duplicity, lies, and betrayal, they must navigate the dangerous currents of a tragedy that turns neighbor against neighbor—and threatens to sweep them all over the edge.
Echoing the lapsarian beauty of William Faulkner and the spiritual isolation of Carson McCullers, Above the Waterfall demonstrates the prodigious talent of an author hailed as “a gorgeous, brutal writer” (Richard Price); “one of the best American novelists of his day” (Janet Maslin, New York Times). Lyrical and evocative, tragic and indelible, it is a breathtaking achievement from a literary virtuoso.(less)
Hardcover, 288 pages
Expected publication: October 7th 2014 by Ecco
I'll be looking for Professor Rash with pen in hand.
Josh wrote: "Cher, way to charge in there with a strong recommendation. I'd never heard of this one prior to your mention of it here and based on your outstanding review it just bumped a few on its way towards ..."Thanks for the kind words, Josh!
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Re a title I have decided *not* to read: The Goldfinch. Has anyone read it? After a friend shared with me her painful attempt to finish the book for her book group, I went back into the customer reviews. On reading those (again), I decided to leave the copy reserved for me at the library. Any thoughts, similar experiences?
Many readers have liked The Goldfinch. Unfortunately I was not one of them.Finished The Hidden Girl https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...\
Patricia wrote: "Re a title I have decided *not* to read: The Goldfinch. Has anyone read it? After a friend shared with me her painful attempt to finish the book for her book group, I went back into the customer..."I really enjoyed it but can definitely see how it is a polarizing book. If anyone is on the fence, I always recommend that they read some of the popular quotes from the book https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes... to get a better idea of if they will like Tartt's writing style.
I frequently change my mind about reading books based on what my trusted literary friends thought. Life's too short to read all the books and you need some way of filtering out which ones are worth your time.
Thanks so much for sharing that feature of Goodreads! Needless to say, I didn't know about it. I opened the link and read some of the quotes--and was pleasantly surprised at how good they are! Just for me personally, fiction can't be too heavy with these sorts of passages. I do love them--but used sparingly. When I read the first page of Goldfinch on Amazon, I was swept away by the beauty of the writing. I quickly sensed, though, that it was getting too "thick" for me. Again, just a personal thing: for me the characterization and action have to dominate. When the writing itself begins to require an effort, I bog down.
Patricia wrote: "Re a title I have decided *not* to read: The Goldfinch. Has anyone read it? After a friend shared with me her painful attempt to finish the book for her book group, I went back into the customer..."To me, it was a quick read (that's saying something for so many pages!) but not Great Literature or anything. Enjoyable but surprisingly light.
Mod
Perfect straddle! (I do it often.) Do let us know your take.
Diane wrote: "I've heard and read so many different comments about Goldfinch, both good and bad. So I'm going to start the book, but not feel bad about abandoning the read if I get bogged down. How's that for ..."Oh you should always feel you can quit, that's what I say! And I do think it's better to decide for yourself. Not every book is for everyone, but I think very few are "bad" exactly.
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Diane wrote: "I've heard and read so many different comments about Goldfinch, both good and bad. So I'm going to start the book, but not feel bad about abandoning the read if I get bogged down. H..."I agree Jenny, though I am quite careful in how I select my books so I manage to avoid the truly "awful" (as opposed to "not for me") that is out there.
Diane, can you think of one or two that you consider really awful? That statement piqued my curiosity.
Mod
I look forward to hearing your take on it!
is iowa in the southern . I was thinking about abook for a group reads
thanks
thanks
Finished All My Puny Sorrows https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Starting The Witch of Belladonna Bay: A Novel.
If any one is looking for a good book to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a good one. It has everything. I just left a impress on me.
Erika wrote: "If any one is looking for a good book to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a good one. It has everything. I just left a impress on me."I will definitely second your thought about this book Erika. Loved it.
how do I get to a new post that is number 786.
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On the Southern Literary Trail
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