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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Kim
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Jul 29, 2016 09:24AM
Yes, I think I had a similar problem with No Country for Old Man. It's a stylistic choice which can be annoying.
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I recently read a book in which the author failed to use them and it distracted from the story for me. I thought I was just being a grammarian again, but interesting that it also annoyed the two of you.
I've read enough Cormac McCarthy to know it is coming, his style is evolving & distilling so down far down he may give up sentences entirely one day. May he will write haiku novels. The differences between All the Pretty Horses and The Road are very stark. At least it seems to serve a purpose of sorts, but it still feels like the "experimental" novels I had to read as a college freshman. I think when anything takes away from the story, be it over-literary writing or playing with punctuation, it can be a disservice to the reader. I want to be caught up in the plot & characters, not chewing on syntax or trying to figure out who actually just said that.
The various literary techniques y'all are mentioning have always felt like gimmicks to me - sort of an ego centric trick to say "ooo, look at me, look at me." The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying we're great stories, but the stream of conscious nest technique was ridiculous in my opinion. Using the same name for two characters and forcing the reader to excavate which one was which (Quentin) distracted me and ticked me off. A recent winner of the pulitzer was The Luminaries - an interesting and epic novel that took place in the gold fields of New Zealand. The story was far longer than it needed to be, and it was not that interesting a tale. It was written with a gimmick, and I believe that structure is why it won. The first chapter was incredibly long - maybe 60,000 words. Chapter Two was 30,000 words. The following chapter was 15,000. Then 7,500. The next contained 3,750. And 1,875.
It kept going like that until the very final chapter was maybe four words long. Aint that just clever? Not.
I do not care how fantastic the writing is or how intriguing the story, if the author acts like Kim Kardashian posting nude selfies on Instagram, its going to turn me away from his writing.
Also, just so you know, I am not illiterate. I am dictating to Siri and correcting her as best I can ;)
lol. No danger of ANYONE thinking you are illiterate, LeAnne. I am a fan of Faulkner, but not everyone can pull off Stream of Consciousness. I have a hard time with Virginia Woolf for her style and this new trend toward no punctuation is very distracting. I will put The Luminaries on my list of books not to bother with!
You go, LeAnne! Don't hold back, lol!Although respectfully, Faulkner gets a pass in my book as well.
Yes, Im always a shrinking violet! But, yeah, Ms Bashful here was wrong - Luminaries win the Booker, not the Pulitzer. Fates and Furies won the Natl Book Award and it was written with a gimmick too.
Im waiting for "u 2 no longer need 2 weep 4 cuz imo ur both lucky as f" to win something next.
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DNFd Fates and Furies and think this is one of the reasons I keep reading older books and re-reading from my past loves. Too much of the modern stuff has zero appeal for me.
Tom wrote: "For those of you who have expressed an interest in reading In the Heat of the Night (Mystery Scene Books), I have set up a discussion board so that you can share your thoughts and co..."Yay! Waiting for it to come to my library branch.
Jeffrey wrote: "You go, LeAnne! Don't hold back, lol!Although respectfully, Faulkner gets a pass in my book as well."
Wow. Who knew I could admit here to not being a Faulkner fan? This group gets better every day, lol.
I can cope with no quotes. I am weary of alternating timelines.
For those of you that enjoy a biography, read Elon Musk. This is the man behind PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX. Fascinating read.
Hope to finish Serena in the morning. Now that I am finally read it, it is as good as advertised.
I read A City Dreaming by Daniel Polansky. My review is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
finished dr, thorne.great book.If you were a follower of downton abbey on t.v. you will love this book.the writer of abbey,julian fellows,will be doing a series for bbc based on this book.
I enjoyed the fun mystery Lady Cop Makes Trouble, the sequel to Girl Waits with Gun.My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Started and finished my month with southern literature. I even gave a shout out to this group in my review of Serena. Looking forward to the upcoming buddy and group reads.
I'm not currently reading anything southern unless you are talking about South Ireland. I'm currently reading The Secret Place by Tana French.
Die Job by Lila Dare – 2.5** I read cozies for the atmosphere – especially when they are set in a small Southern town – and for the quirky cast of characters. BUT, I do expect a reasonable murder mystery, and that where this particular book fell short. This is book three in the series, though it’s the first one I’ve read, and perhaps the author is running out of ideas. Still, it’s a fast read and I might pick up another if it’s fulfills several challenges (as this one did).
Full Review HERE
Actually, Dr Thorne is already available on Amazon Prime. I am reading The Warden, which is first in the series. Dr. Thorne is the third book. Watched first episode & am now waiting to get through books before I watch the rest. Excellent cast.
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Looking for help regarding a book that I have not read. My 13 year old's second book club meeting is tomorrow night. I am trying to find canned discussion questions, but the novel was written in 1923. It is Agatha Christies "The Man in the Brown Suit."
Had I actually bothered to read it, I could easily make up questions - but it is his club, not mine. Suggestions?
After years of planning to read Trollope, I read The Warden last month and am about to start Barchester Towers. Enjoyed the first book and heard it is the least of the series.
Now that I've returned and been to the library, my week looks like this: Breakfast at Tiffany's, In the Heat of the Night for the buddy read, Between the World and Me, and reading new Harry Potter play before my kids start it as we only have 1 copy. Next week, starting on Lonesome Dove.
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I imagine one to hold the book, one to turn the pages, another to wave the fan and a fourth to keep the cold beverages coming.
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None, sadly, but a GR friend sent me an Absinthe abuser's starter kit last week that I'll have to check out.
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The Handmaid's Tale. I started this several years ago and quickly put it down. I'm not sure why because when I started it again last month I was immediately enthralled. It could be that the times we live in make this once again, frighteningly relevant. Here is my review. 
Trapped is the fifth book in the Iron Druid urban fantasy series. While it isn't as good as the previous books in the series, it's still entertaining. I especially like Luke Daniel's narration and voicing of Oberon, the Irish Wolfhound. Here is my review.
How I read with 4 kids? Because I am an early bird in a family of night owls. Today I was up by 6 and no one else was up before 9. On a normal day I get a lot of reading done in those hours. Then after lunch I need my down time which is coffee and a book. Usually after supper I read while listening to baseball on my phone. In the school year I work at the school in the kitchen but I have from 1 to 4 to read and get errands done and if I have too many errands I'll read after supper. That was the long answer. The short answer is that I love to read and I taught all the kids to read independently so that is a major activity in our house.
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That's my house. Unfortunately, that only happens on weekends. The rest of the time it's to the salt mine at seven.
Everyone is up by 7 during the school year so I do my reading at night. I like the summer schedule better. I think I'm organized because I have four kids I bet if I had one or two I'm be laid back. Anyway, I finished the new Harry Potter play. Was good for fan fiction but no where near the level of the books. Now on to In the Heat of the Night.
Diane wrote: "I watched "Dr. Thorne", it's absolutely wonderful, the casting is perfect. I read the whole Barchester series a few years ago. My favorite was "The Small House at Allington", which I believe is the..."I recently read the first Palliser novel and want to read the rest. I also want to read all of the Barchester series. I also love Trollope, my first being The Way We Live Now. Hopefully next year....
Tom wrote: "I finished a couple books over the weekend; one awesome, the other merely entertaining. The Handmaid's Tale. I started this several years ago an..."Tom, I read Handmaid's Tale many years ago and thought it was just so-so. I do have it on my list of books to read again and seeing your comment cements my plan. I'm glad for your comment.
LeAnne wrote: "Looking for help regarding a book that I have not read. My 13 year old's second book club meeting is tomorrow night. I am trying to find canned discussion questions, but the novel was written in ..."
This is an online teacher's resource about the book. Maybe it could help.
http://www.collins.co.uk/file/AmtMhGb...
Connie, thank you very very much!! This is a huge help!
Beloved – Toni Morrison– 4****
This is a challenging book to read (and to listen to) because Morrison uses multiple narrators, switches time frames without notice, and dribbles out clues to what really happened in a way that keeps the reader off balance and unsure where the story is headed. I did think the “atmospheric” writing sometimes got in the way of the storyline. Still, I loved Morrison’s use of language; I felt immersed in the story, the timeframe, the magic, the brutal reality.
Full Review HERE
LeAnne wrote: "Looking for help regarding a book that I have not read. My 13 year old's second book club meeting is tomorrow night. I am trying to find canned discussion questions, but the novel was written in ..."
Start the meeting by asking each of the club members for one item they want to be sure to discuss / mention ... that way they are all invested in the discussion, because the issues THEY want to discuss are sure to be covered.
Generic questions:
How did Christie keep the plot moving?
Did you figure out the mystery before the characters? What clues did you use?
Who is your favorite character and why?
Zia Summer by Rudolfo Anaya – 3*** This is a very atmospheric murder mystery, full of the magical realism that goes with ghost stories and folk tales. But the plot has a fair amount of very real and gritty violence, perpetrated by flesh-and-blood humans, not paranormal entities. The way Anaya describes the landscape, and various characters’ relationship with the land is frequently poetic. I particularly loved Don Eliseo and his cronies, and the ways they helped (or hindered) Sonny’s investigation.
Full Review HERE
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Zia Summer by Rudolfo Anaya – 3*** This is a very atmospheric murder mystery, full of the magical realism that goes with ghost stories and folk tales. But the plot ..."
I'll have to check this out. I'm a big fan of Anaya.
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On the Southern Literary Trail
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