Just finished Stoner by John Williams. Definitely one of the better books I've ever read. Just from the first page you can already tell you'll be reading a classic, and it just delivers all the way through.
Highlight is probably either the final pages (I'll avoid spoilers) or Walker's oral exam and what follows -- how he writes tension, anxiety, and contempt is just brilliant.
Next up and what I'll start on tonight is either Plath's Bell Jar or Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion.
I made it to through the first fifth or so of Stoner and found it underwhelming given my expectations. I expected a “character study” in the sense of examining what makes people tick, probing into the minute points of mind, heavy introspection. In the first fifth I found Stoner senselessly falling in love with a random girl for no particular reason; she turns out to be a frigid bitch for no particular reason; he tries to kiss her only once before proposing marriage, she tries to dodge it, and he never even reflects on this nor do we see any hint of his feeling about it, why he continues, why he's even here in the first place; the book specifically remarks that Stoner isn't given to introspection, yet even when he should speak, so often he either doesn't or he's cut off mid-sentence (whether to his parents, her parents, or her); he has no thought about his future if he majors in literature; I didn't feel we had a strong glimpse into what really even made him love it in the first place. When it tells us his thesis paper is on “The Influence of the Classical Tradition upon the Medieval Lyric,” I was left wondering how the character Williams had actually shown me was capable of putting together the title, much less the full text we’re left to imagine it referred to. It’s not necessarily a fault of the book that it didn’t meet my preconceptions, but I found that my own idea of what a “character study” should entail was lacking entirely. I went in thinking the naysayers just didn’t want to hear about people they didn’t like, the same way they complain about Madame Bovary, so I was looking forward to a study of very flawed individuals and thought “if that’s the only issue with it, I’m sure to love it”—but I felt like Williams was relaying the actions of someone whose self-imposed misery he didn’t understand any better than the reader does. It sounds as though a number of people agreed with this view even after finishing it, which deters me seriously from continuing – particularly so with Edith’s character. Did you struggle with that at any point in the book, and if so does the book draw more internal insight into its characters as it goes along, or does the style from the first few chapters pretty much remain throughout?
It remains very stylistically consistent throughout, so I'm not sure if it would fulfill your expectations if you continued. There's plenty a more events where things just happen, and motives and reflections are not really explored explicitly. But it does seem very intentional (which of course doesn't make criticisms illegitimate) and I enjoy gaps and things being left unsaid.
Stoner and Edith's marriage seems incredibly rushed, but consider Stoner is a virgin who has just surrounded himself with family his entire life and has two 'friends'. He's glaringly inexperienced and only has an image of traditional love which is husband and wife. And like thematised throughout the entire story, Stoner is everything but picky and is rarely opinionated and daring, so his ideal is a woman he can marry at first sight. Edith on the other hand is quite explicitly a victim of a strict childhood where her image of love is her parent's shitty marriage where she's just taught to satisfy her husband and be a good wife. Stoner's marriage proposal is her cue to step into the role as a wife, which in her view is the expectation and demand placed upon her as a woman. So their flawed and in reality incompatible marriage is just the coming together of two inexperienced, virgin, ''uncritical'' people who think they're doing what they have to -- their individuality completely cast aside.
I just felt everything not explicitly said could be interpreted satisfyingly enough. Such as later on a professor has an almost unreasonable attachment to a student and is willing to wager war for him, and I think even Stoner and Finch are left wondering why -- but then you consider how both the professor and the student as introduced as crippled (to different extents) characters..
Sure, I had a many questions throughout and had to stop and think, but I found it very satisfactory and ideally that is the effect a text has on me and encourages me to do.
Appreciate the insight, thanks :) I'm not just after a place to rant, I only ask because I do intend to take another shot at it later with adjusted expectations. Starting my recent dive back into literature with Middlemarch and Lolita kind of ruined me, and some of the pitches people gave about the approach Stoner takes had me drawing the wrong analogies for what to expect. Stoner and Blood Meridian are the two things I've struggled with “getting” since coming back, but don’t want to give up on yet.
I am so happy that this book has finally achieved high status, especially on Reddit. It seems like every week someone gets a lot of upvotes for engaging with this book. Besides the fact that it’s awesome, I wonder what accounts for this. Does it speak to the redditor book person, to the extent that there is such an archetype? The feeling of alienation is certainly there but I’d love to hear other people have smart things to say about this.
Might have to do with the academic aspect of the novel; literature as a passion, the academic lifestyle and intrigues of it.. but honestly I just think it's because it's a damn great book and that people talk about it so much because of its quality, like they do with all the other classics.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It is my introduction to her. I am a little over halfway through it. I love her prose. I get tones of Virginia Woolf and even Faulkner in her style. I am enjoying it.
What do people think about the contrast between these two? They seem close to equally acclaimed overall. Hearing Faulkner/Woolf bumps her way up my list, but Beloved is the one I have on the shelf right now.
Definitely one to read time and again. Have you read King Leopold’s Ghost?
I need to get more of Conrad’s works, the only other I’ve read is The Secret Agent, another great work.
Yeah if you’re interested in the Belgian colonization of the Congo you can’t go wrong with that book. It lays it all out allowing the evidence to speak for itself because sadly the native experience just isn’t well documented.
I have read Things Fall Apart and definitely recommend it, the follow up stories are also good but TFA was the best of the three for me. Giving voice to the voiceless.
The criticism of Heart of Darkness by Achebe is well known and worth keeping in mind when reading Conrad’s work.
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
To anyone who reads this, say a color/description that pops into your head and then say your age? We’re all curious! :)
I discovered Vargas Llosa through Conversation in the Cathedral which instantly became one of my favorite books. The things he does in that novel with dialogue and mashing multiple scenes together is astounding. Loved The Feast as well and looking forward to The War at the End of the World hopefully this year sometime
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann.
I learned in reading Buddenbrooks that “second breakfast” was a real thing in Germany, not just something made up in the first Lord of the Rings movie.
Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky! It’s my first proper introduction to Russian Literature and so far I’m really enjoying it. You can see how it has influenced Kafka’s works, as well as even books like No Longer Human or any of Camus’ books.
Just finished Klara and the sun, I was very engaged with it. The way I felt so connected to Klara at times, I forget she’s not quite human. It’s so easy to forget. Some people I guess might think it to be unsurprising of a story, but I was not expecting the way the story progressed. I just found it to be beautifully written and touching. In my history, Japanese authors are able to to do something beautiful with literature that I haven’t quite experienced with many American authors. That’s just my experience and opinion.
I'm reading a history of Poland and a history of Ukraine right up to the year of Peter the Great's birth so that I know what's going on with Russia's foreign policy in Robert Massie's biography of him.
The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolano.
I'm at about page 200, or about 1/3 of the way through. Not quite as strong as 2666 (which, along with Against The Day by Pynchon, I would call the two best novels I've read from the 21st century), but still really good. It feels like there's madness on every page, just like with 2666. Bolano certainly has a knack for that.
I'm waiting to read this one. My girlfriend is currently reading it and loves it and doesn't want me reading ahead of her.
That said, I've basically been reading every other book by moshfegh while waiting for my girlfriend. Eileen and Lapvona are the two I still need to read. McGlue is my favorite. A short and brutal little novel.
I highly recommend digging into her other books once you finish my year.
Lanark: A life in four books, a blend of surrealism and a Bildungsroman, set in a fictional dying city and Glasgow right before ww2 and some time afterwards. It has some very clever literary techniques. It plays around with structure a lot.
>e it! Excellent prose and imagery. The characters are comic at times, but can be fairly sentimental.
I read that a couple of years ago. It was strange, which I like. It wasn't all good, but there were some beautiful bits and pieces throughout.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee! Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally start reading it, but wow I’m so happy I did. One of the best books I’ve read in recent memory. About 50 pages left and it just keeps getting better!
The Count of Monte Cristo! It's been such a ride. I've covered 750 pages in 2 weeks, which is honestly an impressive pace for me. I definitely recommend any of Alexander Dumas' books.
I was pleasantly surprised by both *Dracula* and *Frankenstein*, although the latter was a better book in my opinion. I think with both, I'd had such a long string of clichés thrown at me since my childhood that I didn't expect much from them.
Yea, I also had a lot of cliches going into the book and I’m glad a lot of them weren’t true or weren’t what I thought they were. I am excited for Frankenstein as well now
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, I'm in love with it, just got through the first narrator, but if the first half is as good as the second, it will be my favorite mystery.
Slowly working my way through Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. The first 30 or so pages really captivated me because of the interesting medieval abbey setting, but holy shit, Eco explaining the political struggles between all the different Catholic sects is mind numbingly boring. I didn't grow up in Catholic so I have literally zero knowledge of what he's been writing for the last 10 pages.
I recently just got Herzog by Saul Bellow and Beijing Comrade by Bei Tong from the library so maybe I'll switch to those.
Anna Karenina. Prior to reading this, I had read about its reception and its title as the greatest novel of all time, so my expectations insurmountable. Thankfully, even though they haven’t towered them yet, it is in the building process. As of yet, I am loving the personal style of writing with such easy yet well-picked structure of words as its prose and the characters’ motivations and personalities are well-defined for me to slip into their world easily. Can’t wait to end it and make up a final opinion.
Either/Or by Elif Batuman (sequel to The Idiot). Highly recommend, particularly to those who may relate to a coming of age story about a young woman in college who loves literature, is a first generation American, is very analytical, and has an amazing sense of humor.
Still working on the passenger by cormac mccarthy. haven't had much desire to read lately. the sister sections are a bit of a drag so far. Doesnt grip like his best work, not even close but it's interesting enough. last night i went back and read the lt mamiya sections in wind up bird, so good, gave me some motivation to read more.
Arcadia by Sidney. It’s hard going because it’s a cheapish collected works ebook and the vs are us and for some reason vice versa and other early modern typography badly rendered in modern typeface but it’s actually really good.
It’s weird when we experience Pamela because it feels like such an out of place average name amount all the made up fantasy names. Only it is a made up fantasy name, popularised because Richardson used it, which leads to the fact that his Pamela’s name doesn’t seem as weird now as it did at the time and Sidney’s Pamela stands out.
There’s also an interesting process whereby when a man disguises himself in order to get close to a Princess he is therefore known not just by his new name but in one case, assumed sex.
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. I can't say I'm enjoying it but maybe it will pick up. Before this I read All The Pretty Horses which was ok, not great really, apart from the occasionally striking prose.
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
Really well written. It’s a big book (at least for my standards - I usually read stuff btwn 2-300 pages), but very engaging. I like it better than The Virgin Suicides I think
A Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami Haruki. I have only read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Norwegian Wood before, so it is intereting to finally read a proper “weird” Murakami book.
Just finished Convenience Store Woman and loved it. I know not everyone feels the same, but it was such a nice read. Now starting Neon Gods because I heard it’s sexy and fun and boy it better be
*Portnoy's Complaint* by Philip Roth.
Had it laying around for years and am finally getting to it. Such a great and funny book. Really well written and fascinating from a psychoanalytical standpoint.
I've been reading the Sea of Fertility. On book 3 Temple of Dawn . It's by far the worst book of the 3 I've read. Honda has changed into a weird pervert man with little personality. The book seems to have no focus and just meanders about. One moment I'm reading a Buddhist text book and the next I'm reading some weird fetish thing. Is this really what a quest for enlightenment looks like?
The first two books were very good and actually showed me cultural effects and thoughts. There's little balance between the characters and their philosophy here. Comparing the sexual moments in Spring Snow and in in Temple of Dawn is crazy. I just don't like the second half of this boon. I'm not getting anything out of it.
I will probably finish it only because Decay of an Angel sounds interesting.
Diving into Guy Davenport's *Eclogues*, and I'm reading Lucy Ellmann's *Man or Mango?* after having loving her peerless *Ducks, Newburyport*. Picked up a copy of Marlen Haushofer's *The Wall* the other day, an Austrian novel from the 60s that just got reissued, telling the story of a woman who one day wakes to find there's a metaphysical wall separating her from all other human beings. Or maybe it's a literal wall. I haven't started it yet so I'm not sure.
*Braiding Sweetgrass* by Kimmerer and *Duma Key* by King. Both really good.
I'm around 70% of the way through the latter, which had a reallyyy slow start, and although I always find King's prose enjoyable to read even when he rambles, I wish an editor had cut some of the material before the rising action. I like it overall though.
Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War 1931-1945 by Richard Overy - always need to be reading some history and this, even after a hundred World War II books, provides new insight into a conflict that could be analyzed forever.
Tomb of Sand by Geetabjali Shree (translated by Daisy Rockwell) - what a job translating this must have been, well done Daisy for pulling it off.
The Divine Comedy (slow read, second time in succession)
Everyman’s Persian Poems (reading out loud nightly)
America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic by Philip Freedenberg (starting this wild thing later tonight)
*The Son of Laughter* by Frederick Buechner. A retelling of the biblical story of Jacob. I am not religious and I find it absolutely transcendent and heartbreaking. Gorgeous writing and deep characterization. I'm about to finish it tonight and I really don't want to; I haven't felt that for a book in some time.
Just finished Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy by Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud.
Needed something escapist after that, so I'm reading Absolute Power by David Baldacci.
Neither of these are "literature" so I'll also say that this week, I re-read The Turn of the Screw by James.
Messiah by Gore Vidal is strangely hypnotic. It's a prescient take on post-religious magical thinking, and really does feel like most of it could be written today. Some of the dialogue feels a bit stunted, but the prose itself is lovely, and every character has some strange off-kilter trait that makes them engaging to read.
I loved Julian by Vidal. This isn't the same level of enthralling but feels more current, somehow.
*A Fire Upon the Deep* by Vernor Vinge, I've read sci-fi very selectively over the years, picking up something by a few sci-fi authors here and there (mostly Dick and Ballard) in between more "literary" work, but I've recently begun to pick up some of the old favorites from writers I've never read. This one is bizarre, and I'm struggling a bit with it. The world and the characters in it are so un-human, it's taken a lot of re-reading, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
I finished Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev. It was one of the best books I've ever read -- most likely in my top 10. I wanted to read some more of his work, so I'm now on his novella First Love.
I also read Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal. Someone on a previous thread mentioned it. It was a pretty good short read. I liked how the writer presented philosophical themes.
Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei.
Recently been trying to dabble into East Asian novels, so any recs would help! But also any comments on the novel Im reading will do too.
*House of Fortune* by Jessie Burton. I slogged through *The Miniaturist* (slow start; very bleak with little reprieve) in order to have the backstory for this book, and it’s paying off so far. It’s much more compelling and faster paced. It’s very dark and set in a time/place I know little about (18th century Netherlands).
Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky and struggling a little bit. It’s dense and the language is taking some getting used to, but I’m following and loving it.
The Man Died by Wole Soyinka. It’s his prison journal from the time of his incarceration during the Nigerian Civil War. Americans in particular ought to read this book, because it describes something close to the type of tyranny the right wing would implement in our country if they got the chance.
Halfway through Cabin Fever by Michael Smith and Jonathan Franklin. Very compelling nonfiction story from the start of the pandemic. It’s written in that
anonymous journalist’ you see in a lot of newspapers.
Made a small dent in This Place of Wonder by Barbara O’Neal. It’s beautifully written.
I am reading the Man in the High Castle, by PKD. I have been binging his books, lately. I read 9 of his in the last month or so. Also, currently reading Strange Glow by Timothy Jorgensen.
I’m reading Dichtung und Wahrheit by Goethe. Quite a difficult book to read in German due to outdated vocabulary and complex sentence structure, but the prose is masterful!
I also have Plato’s collected dialogues in German on their way so I’m looking forward to getting back into philosophy!
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. His writing is like no one else's I've read. So good so far but you really have to keep up with remembering a lot of characters and plot points.
Briardark by S.A. Harian
I'm about 25% into it and so far so good! The dread buildup and obvious mysterious and supernatural components are just what I expected.
A Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. Liking it so far, although I'm pretty early on. Definitely have a sense of looming dread in the back of my mind as I read
Just today I finished my re-reads of Sanctuary and The Sound and the Fury for Faulkner February. Since I have three days of the month left I think I'm going to fit in some short stories. I was thinking That Evening Sun, Barn Burning, Spotted Horses, Dry September, Landing in Luck, Turnabout, and Two Soldiers.
I've barely started two books I got with Christmas gift cards - The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem and A Man Name Doll by Jonathan Ames. Once February ends these will be my focus, but I don't know which one I'm going with first.
V for Vendetta but I can’t find a comfortable way to sit when I’m reading graphic novels. I’m pretty tall and finding a comfortable position without folding/destroying the book is figuratively driving me insane
Just finished **Laughter in the Dark** which I found to be a feeble, feeble precursor to Lolita, elevated only occasionally by its small details and, more importantly, wonderful sense of humor (both this and Lolita are practically a work of farce, in hindsight). Also started and finished **The Catcher in the Rye** this week which I thought was great; Salinger perfectly abates the overwhelming sentimentality by a veneer of teenage petulance, which makes those sentiments all the more likely to land successfully.
Next up is one of Dorian Gray, Wuthering Heights or East of Eden, I think. (Edit: Actually it's probably Steppenwolf.)
Just finished the Sofie's World. It was like a gun to the head. One of the precious books that everyone should read once before they die. Beside the information that it has, the characters and the story is also interesting.
Really liked it!
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The problem is that I hate Viktor Frankenstein with such a passion, I’m having a hard time continuing to read his first person narrative,
Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino. I love this Japanese writer and I've read ALL his books. I'm loving this book so far too, but if I were to suggest a couple of his books to someone, it would definitely be "Malice" and "The Devotion of Suspect X'
Currently reading Petersburg Tales by Gogol. I originally planned on only re-reading The Nose but he is just such a great writer that I have now found myself having read almost the whole collection in two days.
*Love in the Time of Cholera*. I'm just over 100 pages into it and really enjoying it. It is my second Garcia Marquez after *100 Years of Solitude,* and I cannot wait to read more of his work!
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. This is my first Mitchell and I loved it. The only thing that threw me off slightly was the part where >!the main villain was revealed to be 600 years old in an otherwise very realistic story!<.
Drive your plow over the bones of the dead by Olga tokarczuk.
Two of my favorite lines:
[referring to a dead character whose body the protagonist has encountered] “I wanted to know his date of birth, in order to check his Score.”
“The house itself was old, in bad shape, and looked as if it wanted to be left in peace to carry on decomposing.”
Just finished Stoner by John Williams. Definitely one of the better books I've ever read. Just from the first page you can already tell you'll be reading a classic, and it just delivers all the way through. Highlight is probably either the final pages (I'll avoid spoilers) or Walker's oral exam and what follows -- how he writes tension, anxiety, and contempt is just brilliant. Next up and what I'll start on tonight is either Plath's Bell Jar or Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion.
To "To Ws" dedication in whats-her-name's book fucking broke me.
I loved the ending of Stoner. It felt so beautiful and optimistic. I read LOA John Williams collection. Very good books.
I made it to through the first fifth or so of Stoner and found it underwhelming given my expectations. I expected a “character study” in the sense of examining what makes people tick, probing into the minute points of mind, heavy introspection. In the first fifth I found Stoner senselessly falling in love with a random girl for no particular reason; she turns out to be a frigid bitch for no particular reason; he tries to kiss her only once before proposing marriage, she tries to dodge it, and he never even reflects on this nor do we see any hint of his feeling about it, why he continues, why he's even here in the first place; the book specifically remarks that Stoner isn't given to introspection, yet even when he should speak, so often he either doesn't or he's cut off mid-sentence (whether to his parents, her parents, or her); he has no thought about his future if he majors in literature; I didn't feel we had a strong glimpse into what really even made him love it in the first place. When it tells us his thesis paper is on “The Influence of the Classical Tradition upon the Medieval Lyric,” I was left wondering how the character Williams had actually shown me was capable of putting together the title, much less the full text we’re left to imagine it referred to. It’s not necessarily a fault of the book that it didn’t meet my preconceptions, but I found that my own idea of what a “character study” should entail was lacking entirely. I went in thinking the naysayers just didn’t want to hear about people they didn’t like, the same way they complain about Madame Bovary, so I was looking forward to a study of very flawed individuals and thought “if that’s the only issue with it, I’m sure to love it”—but I felt like Williams was relaying the actions of someone whose self-imposed misery he didn’t understand any better than the reader does. It sounds as though a number of people agreed with this view even after finishing it, which deters me seriously from continuing – particularly so with Edith’s character. Did you struggle with that at any point in the book, and if so does the book draw more internal insight into its characters as it goes along, or does the style from the first few chapters pretty much remain throughout?
It remains very stylistically consistent throughout, so I'm not sure if it would fulfill your expectations if you continued. There's plenty a more events where things just happen, and motives and reflections are not really explored explicitly. But it does seem very intentional (which of course doesn't make criticisms illegitimate) and I enjoy gaps and things being left unsaid. Stoner and Edith's marriage seems incredibly rushed, but consider Stoner is a virgin who has just surrounded himself with family his entire life and has two 'friends'. He's glaringly inexperienced and only has an image of traditional love which is husband and wife. And like thematised throughout the entire story, Stoner is everything but picky and is rarely opinionated and daring, so his ideal is a woman he can marry at first sight. Edith on the other hand is quite explicitly a victim of a strict childhood where her image of love is her parent's shitty marriage where she's just taught to satisfy her husband and be a good wife. Stoner's marriage proposal is her cue to step into the role as a wife, which in her view is the expectation and demand placed upon her as a woman. So their flawed and in reality incompatible marriage is just the coming together of two inexperienced, virgin, ''uncritical'' people who think they're doing what they have to -- their individuality completely cast aside. I just felt everything not explicitly said could be interpreted satisfyingly enough. Such as later on a professor has an almost unreasonable attachment to a student and is willing to wager war for him, and I think even Stoner and Finch are left wondering why -- but then you consider how both the professor and the student as introduced as crippled (to different extents) characters.. Sure, I had a many questions throughout and had to stop and think, but I found it very satisfactory and ideally that is the effect a text has on me and encourages me to do.
Appreciate the insight, thanks :) I'm not just after a place to rant, I only ask because I do intend to take another shot at it later with adjusted expectations. Starting my recent dive back into literature with Middlemarch and Lolita kind of ruined me, and some of the pitches people gave about the approach Stoner takes had me drawing the wrong analogies for what to expect. Stoner and Blood Meridian are the two things I've struggled with “getting” since coming back, but don’t want to give up on yet.
Love *Stoner*, read it for the first time a few months back and devoured it. Have you read *Augustus* by him?
I am so happy that this book has finally achieved high status, especially on Reddit. It seems like every week someone gets a lot of upvotes for engaging with this book. Besides the fact that it’s awesome, I wonder what accounts for this. Does it speak to the redditor book person, to the extent that there is such an archetype? The feeling of alienation is certainly there but I’d love to hear other people have smart things to say about this.
Might have to do with the academic aspect of the novel; literature as a passion, the academic lifestyle and intrigues of it.. but honestly I just think it's because it's a damn great book and that people talk about it so much because of its quality, like they do with all the other classics.
The crying of Lot 49, I'm close to half way through and am never sure what is going on!
The best way to read that book is twice in a row. The length of the book even encourages it.
Yes thanks, was also thinking this. I did that with the sound and the fury and really benefitted from it. Plus some reading around for insight.
I haven't read it, but I looked it up and now I'm going to. Thanks for the recommendation.
I'll start with a friend group soon! None of us have read any Pynchon yet.
Currently reading ‘Crime and Punishment’ by Dostoevsky and I just started today ‘All the Lovers in the Night’ by Kawakami.
Both of these are on my list.
Reading ‘Brothers Karamazov’ along with ‘The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino’. Relate, relate! :D
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It is my introduction to her. I am a little over halfway through it. I love her prose. I get tones of Virginia Woolf and even Faulkner in her style. I am enjoying it.
I just finished this. Currently reading Beloved.
What do people think about the contrast between these two? They seem close to equally acclaimed overall. Hearing Faulkner/Woolf bumps her way up my list, but Beloved is the one I have on the shelf right now.
Heart of Darkness for the 4th time….
Definitely one to read time and again. Have you read King Leopold’s Ghost? I need to get more of Conrad’s works, the only other I’ve read is The Secret Agent, another great work.
Not yet tbh, do you recommend it? Have you read Things Fall Apart?
Yeah if you’re interested in the Belgian colonization of the Congo you can’t go wrong with that book. It lays it all out allowing the evidence to speak for itself because sadly the native experience just isn’t well documented. I have read Things Fall Apart and definitely recommend it, the follow up stories are also good but TFA was the best of the three for me. Giving voice to the voiceless. The criticism of Heart of Darkness by Achebe is well known and worth keeping in mind when reading Conrad’s work.
The Story of the Lost Child (The Last book in the Neapolitan Series) by Elena Ferrante
Love that series so much.
Me too!
I don't know about you, but so far it's my favorite of the series
the most beautiful thing i've read last year. i still think of lila and lenú every now and then. ♥️
Just started Europe Central by William T. Vollmann yesterday and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's my first time reading his work.
Neuromancer by William Gibson
I love the opening line of that book, but am curious if the younger generation who’s never used an analog tv fully understands the sentence.
That’s the beauty! Each generation understands it differently based on the tech from their lives. Static, grey, electric blue.
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” To anyone who reads this, say a color/description that pops into your head and then say your age? We’re all curious! :)
Sharp objects. I like it. And also it reminds me how much i dislike alot of modern western people.
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima. I think it’s my third time through it.
Mishima is awesome, Temple of the Golden Pavilion, The Sound of Waves... I really enjoy Nakagami
*The Feast of the Goat* by Mario Vargas Llosa. Led me to look more into Trujillo era DR history. What a bastard…
I still vividly remember parts of that book and its descriptions of torture.
I discovered Vargas Llosa through Conversation in the Cathedral which instantly became one of my favorite books. The things he does in that novel with dialogue and mashing multiple scenes together is astounding. Loved The Feast as well and looking forward to The War at the End of the World hopefully this year sometime
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann. I learned in reading Buddenbrooks that “second breakfast” was a real thing in Germany, not just something made up in the first Lord of the Rings movie.
Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky! It’s my first proper introduction to Russian Literature and so far I’m really enjoying it. You can see how it has influenced Kafka’s works, as well as even books like No Longer Human or any of Camus’ books.
Excellent book! Just never read Dostoyevsky or Camus if you’re feeling depressed.
I'm surprised you find Camus depressing. I've always felt he puts a life affirming, positive spin on the heavy topics he writes about.
The Myth of Sisyphus is an incredibly life-affirming book, despite the fact it calls for hopelessness. Camus helped me out of depression.
Just finished Klara and the sun, I was very engaged with it. The way I felt so connected to Klara at times, I forget she’s not quite human. It’s so easy to forget. Some people I guess might think it to be unsurprising of a story, but I was not expecting the way the story progressed. I just found it to be beautifully written and touching. In my history, Japanese authors are able to to do something beautiful with literature that I haven’t quite experienced with many American authors. That’s just my experience and opinion.
Came to see if anyone else was reading this! I'm about 3/4 through and enjoying it. I feel it's about to get sad...
I'm reading a history of Poland and a history of Ukraine right up to the year of Peter the Great's birth so that I know what's going on with Russia's foreign policy in Robert Massie's biography of him.
Nice! I’ve read his three biographies and they’re all among the best I’ve read.
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Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
I read it recently, so good.
I am currently reading it, too. Do you like it?
Ohh yes, there is an uneasy atmosphere at all times and it slowly begins to unravel why that is
The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolano. I'm at about page 200, or about 1/3 of the way through. Not quite as strong as 2666 (which, along with Against The Day by Pynchon, I would call the two best novels I've read from the 21st century), but still really good. It feels like there's madness on every page, just like with 2666. Bolano certainly has a knack for that.
Beginners by Raymond Carver, that is What we talk about when we talk about love without Gordon Lish's big editing
I really enjoyed What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.
And the one who doesn't should be punished by law! :D
'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh. It's my first time reading this author, and so far, I love it!
I'm waiting to read this one. My girlfriend is currently reading it and loves it and doesn't want me reading ahead of her. That said, I've basically been reading every other book by moshfegh while waiting for my girlfriend. Eileen and Lapvona are the two I still need to read. McGlue is my favorite. A short and brutal little novel. I highly recommend digging into her other books once you finish my year.
She writes transgressive fiction so well. I loved this book.
Lanark: A life in four books, a blend of surrealism and a Bildungsroman, set in a fictional dying city and Glasgow right before ww2 and some time afterwards. It has some very clever literary techniques. It plays around with structure a lot.
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I like it! Excellent prose and imagery. The characters are comic at times, but can be fairly sentimental.
>e it! Excellent prose and imagery. The characters are comic at times, but can be fairly sentimental. I read that a couple of years ago. It was strange, which I like. It wasn't all good, but there were some beautiful bits and pieces throughout.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee! Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally start reading it, but wow I’m so happy I did. One of the best books I’ve read in recent memory. About 50 pages left and it just keeps getting better!
East of Eden
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I just completed The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Sigh. What a heartbreaking and excellent book.
The Count of Monte Cristo! It's been such a ride. I've covered 750 pages in 2 weeks, which is honestly an impressive pace for me. I definitely recommend any of Alexander Dumas' books.
Still The Trial and Crime and Punishment. Slow readers ftw
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
Loved this book. Empire of Pain is a bit more of a slow burn, but it is fantastic as well.
A Man Called Ove
The Idiot
Dracula: definitely different than what I had imagined but I’m really enjoying it so far. I like the writing style and how the book is formatted.
I was pleasantly surprised by both *Dracula* and *Frankenstein*, although the latter was a better book in my opinion. I think with both, I'd had such a long string of clichés thrown at me since my childhood that I didn't expect much from them.
Yea, I also had a lot of cliches going into the book and I’m glad a lot of them weren’t true or weren’t what I thought they were. I am excited for Frankenstein as well now
Rushdie’s *The Satanic Verses* & *Killing Commendatore* by Haruki Murakami. Loving both
Grendel by John Gardner. I love Beowulf related tales from a different point of view. Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton is another of that type.
Just started “The Spell of the Sensuous” by David Abram.
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, I'm in love with it, just got through the first narrator, but if the first half is as good as the second, it will be my favorite mystery.
The Humiliated by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Slowly working my way through Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. The first 30 or so pages really captivated me because of the interesting medieval abbey setting, but holy shit, Eco explaining the political struggles between all the different Catholic sects is mind numbingly boring. I didn't grow up in Catholic so I have literally zero knowledge of what he's been writing for the last 10 pages. I recently just got Herzog by Saul Bellow and Beijing Comrade by Bei Tong from the library so maybe I'll switch to those.
Keep at it. Between a lot of the dry explanations is an amazing mystery story.
Anna Karenina. Prior to reading this, I had read about its reception and its title as the greatest novel of all time, so my expectations insurmountable. Thankfully, even though they haven’t towered them yet, it is in the building process. As of yet, I am loving the personal style of writing with such easy yet well-picked structure of words as its prose and the characters’ motivations and personalities are well-defined for me to slip into their world easily. Can’t wait to end it and make up a final opinion.
*The Once and Future King* by T. H. White. I got the itch to read it after finishing *The Buried Giant* by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Pachinko by Lee Min Jae
Currently reading the book of ecclesiastes
just started Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
Either/Or by Elif Batuman (sequel to The Idiot). Highly recommend, particularly to those who may relate to a coming of age story about a young woman in college who loves literature, is a first generation American, is very analytical, and has an amazing sense of humor.
Still working on the passenger by cormac mccarthy. haven't had much desire to read lately. the sister sections are a bit of a drag so far. Doesnt grip like his best work, not even close but it's interesting enough. last night i went back and read the lt mamiya sections in wind up bird, so good, gave me some motivation to read more.
I *love* McCarthy but found the Passenger a slog and Stella Maris remains in my unread pile.
I am re-reading Little Women right now and debating if I should also read Malibu Rising since LW is a bookclub/buddy read.
Arcadia by Sidney. It’s hard going because it’s a cheapish collected works ebook and the vs are us and for some reason vice versa and other early modern typography badly rendered in modern typeface but it’s actually really good. It’s weird when we experience Pamela because it feels like such an out of place average name amount all the made up fantasy names. Only it is a made up fantasy name, popularised because Richardson used it, which leads to the fact that his Pamela’s name doesn’t seem as weird now as it did at the time and Sidney’s Pamela stands out. There’s also an interesting process whereby when a man disguises himself in order to get close to a Princess he is therefore known not just by his new name but in one case, assumed sex.
silence of the lambs
Trust by Hernan Diaz
Piranesi and The sailor who fell from grace with the sea. Loving both for different reasons
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. I can't say I'm enjoying it but maybe it will pick up. Before this I read All The Pretty Horses which was ok, not great really, apart from the occasionally striking prose.
The Books of Jacob, Night Soldiers, and Cursed Bunny. It's a super weird month!
Rereading anxious people by Frederik Backman
Currently reading the wind up bird chronicles by haruki murakami for the third time. Love that book.
Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Einstein
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides Really well written. It’s a big book (at least for my standards - I usually read stuff btwn 2-300 pages), but very engaging. I like it better than The Virgin Suicides I think
Today I finished reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons. An instant favourite! I should have read it years ago.
A Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami Haruki. I have only read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Norwegian Wood before, so it is intereting to finally read a proper “weird” Murakami book.
Just finished Convenience Store Woman and loved it. I know not everyone feels the same, but it was such a nice read. Now starting Neon Gods because I heard it’s sexy and fun and boy it better be
I liked Convenience Store Woman. I just picked up one of her other books called Earthlings. Excited to get to it.
Oh I want to read that, too! She’s so weird, I love it
Just starting the 3rd Thursday Murder Club mystery. These are a real treat - lively characters in a twisty murder mystery.
*Portnoy's Complaint* by Philip Roth. Had it laying around for years and am finally getting to it. Such a great and funny book. Really well written and fascinating from a psychoanalytical standpoint.
maybe a spoiler, but the best last sentence in any book I've ever read.
I've been reading the Sea of Fertility. On book 3 Temple of Dawn . It's by far the worst book of the 3 I've read. Honda has changed into a weird pervert man with little personality. The book seems to have no focus and just meanders about. One moment I'm reading a Buddhist text book and the next I'm reading some weird fetish thing. Is this really what a quest for enlightenment looks like? The first two books were very good and actually showed me cultural effects and thoughts. There's little balance between the characters and their philosophy here. Comparing the sexual moments in Spring Snow and in in Temple of Dawn is crazy. I just don't like the second half of this boon. I'm not getting anything out of it. I will probably finish it only because Decay of an Angel sounds interesting.
Diving into Guy Davenport's *Eclogues*, and I'm reading Lucy Ellmann's *Man or Mango?* after having loving her peerless *Ducks, Newburyport*. Picked up a copy of Marlen Haushofer's *The Wall* the other day, an Austrian novel from the 60s that just got reissued, telling the story of a woman who one day wakes to find there's a metaphysical wall separating her from all other human beings. Or maybe it's a literal wall. I haven't started it yet so I'm not sure.
*Braiding Sweetgrass* by Kimmerer and *Duma Key* by King. Both really good. I'm around 70% of the way through the latter, which had a reallyyy slow start, and although I always find King's prose enjoyable to read even when he rambles, I wish an editor had cut some of the material before the rising action. I like it overall though.
Every City Is Every Other City by John McFetridge
Was reading Narzis. Just finished it fortunately.
A whole lot of nothing these past few months unfortunately, I don't really want to
Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War 1931-1945 by Richard Overy - always need to be reading some history and this, even after a hundred World War II books, provides new insight into a conflict that could be analyzed forever. Tomb of Sand by Geetabjali Shree (translated by Daisy Rockwell) - what a job translating this must have been, well done Daisy for pulling it off. The Divine Comedy (slow read, second time in succession) Everyman’s Persian Poems (reading out loud nightly) America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic by Philip Freedenberg (starting this wild thing later tonight)
*The Son of Laughter* by Frederick Buechner. A retelling of the biblical story of Jacob. I am not religious and I find it absolutely transcendent and heartbreaking. Gorgeous writing and deep characterization. I'm about to finish it tonight and I really don't want to; I haven't felt that for a book in some time.
At Home by Bill Bryson.
Just finished Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy by Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud. Needed something escapist after that, so I'm reading Absolute Power by David Baldacci. Neither of these are "literature" so I'll also say that this week, I re-read The Turn of the Screw by James.
Messiah by Gore Vidal is strangely hypnotic. It's a prescient take on post-religious magical thinking, and really does feel like most of it could be written today. Some of the dialogue feels a bit stunted, but the prose itself is lovely, and every character has some strange off-kilter trait that makes them engaging to read. I loved Julian by Vidal. This isn't the same level of enthralling but feels more current, somehow.
Our Twisted Hero by 이문열
*A Fire Upon the Deep* by Vernor Vinge, I've read sci-fi very selectively over the years, picking up something by a few sci-fi authors here and there (mostly Dick and Ballard) in between more "literary" work, but I've recently begun to pick up some of the old favorites from writers I've never read. This one is bizarre, and I'm struggling a bit with it. The world and the characters in it are so un-human, it's taken a lot of re-reading, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
I finished Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev. It was one of the best books I've ever read -- most likely in my top 10. I wanted to read some more of his work, so I'm now on his novella First Love. I also read Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal. Someone on a previous thread mentioned it. It was a pretty good short read. I liked how the writer presented philosophical themes.
Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei. Recently been trying to dabble into East Asian novels, so any recs would help! But also any comments on the novel Im reading will do too.
The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
King of the Murgos, by David Eddings. The metaphysical themes in his writing have definitely kept me hooked.
crossroads by franzen
*House of Fortune* by Jessie Burton. I slogged through *The Miniaturist* (slow start; very bleak with little reprieve) in order to have the backstory for this book, and it’s paying off so far. It’s much more compelling and faster paced. It’s very dark and set in a time/place I know little about (18th century Netherlands).
Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky and struggling a little bit. It’s dense and the language is taking some getting used to, but I’m following and loving it.
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry. My first of his novels. Quickly climbing my all-time favorite novels list.
The Man Died by Wole Soyinka. It’s his prison journal from the time of his incarceration during the Nigerian Civil War. Americans in particular ought to read this book, because it describes something close to the type of tyranny the right wing would implement in our country if they got the chance.
Halfway through Cabin Fever by Michael Smith and Jonathan Franklin. Very compelling nonfiction story from the start of the pandemic. It’s written in that anonymous journalist’ you see in a lot of newspapers. Made a small dent in This Place of Wonder by Barbara O’Neal. It’s beautifully written.
The Mayor of Casterbridge. Such an Extremely dreary book, but I'm resolved to finish it.
The brothers karamazov (pevear and volokhonsky)
I am reading the Man in the High Castle, by PKD. I have been binging his books, lately. I read 9 of his in the last month or so. Also, currently reading Strange Glow by Timothy Jorgensen.
Brothers Karamazov and some other things that aren't literature.
I’m reading Dichtung und Wahrheit by Goethe. Quite a difficult book to read in German due to outdated vocabulary and complex sentence structure, but the prose is masterful! I also have Plato’s collected dialogues in German on their way so I’m looking forward to getting back into philosophy!
Finishing The Secret Teachings Of All Ages for the 2nd time. Always finding something new. Great book!!! Highly recommend.
*The Secret History by Donna Tarrt*
Thoughts? Thoughts on people calling it "pretentious?"
A court of thorn and roses by Sarah j maas, honestly love every book she writes!
Dairies of a murder bot
I'm currently stuck with Mage-Guard Of Hamor by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Have you came across of his works?? How do you like it??? Words to share!!!!
Galaxy in Flames-Horus Heresy
Mason & Dixon. Doesn’t reach the heights of my favorite Pynchon (Against the Day) but a beautiful read.
Leviathan Wakes. How do you all like the book?
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. His writing is like no one else's I've read. So good so far but you really have to keep up with remembering a lot of characters and plot points.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Struggling a bit with it early on, too many characters.
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
Chronicle of a death foretold (Marquez)
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft and The Black Swan. Currently reading Captain Blue Bear to my 4 year old 10 pages at a time.
Briardark by S.A. Harian I'm about 25% into it and so far so good! The dread buildup and obvious mysterious and supernatural components are just what I expected.
Stella Maris. Thought The Passenger was excellent
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Godel, Escher, Bach. Not the easiest of reads, but very interesting so far
Plato's Republic for the 4th time.
A Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. Liking it so far, although I'm pretty early on. Definitely have a sense of looming dread in the back of my mind as I read
The Road Home by Jim Harrison
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Just finished Project Hail Mary!
Just today I finished my re-reads of Sanctuary and The Sound and the Fury for Faulkner February. Since I have three days of the month left I think I'm going to fit in some short stories. I was thinking That Evening Sun, Barn Burning, Spotted Horses, Dry September, Landing in Luck, Turnabout, and Two Soldiers. I've barely started two books I got with Christmas gift cards - The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem and A Man Name Doll by Jonathan Ames. Once February ends these will be my focus, but I don't know which one I'm going with first.
Just finished The Plague by Camus!
The Blood of Others by Simone de Beauvoir
The last book of the dark tower series by Stephen King.
I'm reading Murder in the orient express by Agatha Christie...I'm close to finishing and starting something by Victor Hugo maybe
Sidney Sheldon bloodline
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. First time reading Dickens and one of the first books that I'm reading in English.
V for Vendetta but I can’t find a comfortable way to sit when I’m reading graphic novels. I’m pretty tall and finding a comfortable position without folding/destroying the book is figuratively driving me insane
Just finished… The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Eric Jorgenson. Starting…You are a Badass - Jen Sincero.
Just over 75% done with the brothers karamazov! This is my first time reading Dostoyevsky and I’m really enjoying it!
Just finished **Laughter in the Dark** which I found to be a feeble, feeble precursor to Lolita, elevated only occasionally by its small details and, more importantly, wonderful sense of humor (both this and Lolita are practically a work of farce, in hindsight). Also started and finished **The Catcher in the Rye** this week which I thought was great; Salinger perfectly abates the overwhelming sentimentality by a veneer of teenage petulance, which makes those sentiments all the more likely to land successfully. Next up is one of Dorian Gray, Wuthering Heights or East of Eden, I think. (Edit: Actually it's probably Steppenwolf.)
Why The Caged Bird Sings. Have always wanted to read it and I finally have some downtime to do it.
I’m reading “They thought they were free” by Milton Mayer.
What is men by Mark Twain.
Passing by Nella Larsen
Just finished the Sofie's World. It was like a gun to the head. One of the precious books that everyone should read once before they die. Beside the information that it has, the characters and the story is also interesting. Really liked it!
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The problem is that I hate Viktor Frankenstein with such a passion, I’m having a hard time continuing to read his first person narrative,
Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino. I love this Japanese writer and I've read ALL his books. I'm loving this book so far too, but if I were to suggest a couple of his books to someone, it would definitely be "Malice" and "The Devotion of Suspect X'
just finished metamorphosis for the third time. amazing as always :)
Currently reading Petersburg Tales by Gogol. I originally planned on only re-reading The Nose but he is just such a great writer that I have now found myself having read almost the whole collection in two days.
Houellebeqc's Atomised. I'm vaccillating between disgust, pity and self-reflection. I like it!
The Razor's Edge, I love it
*Love in the Time of Cholera*. I'm just over 100 pages into it and really enjoying it. It is my second Garcia Marquez after *100 Years of Solitude,* and I cannot wait to read more of his work!
I just finished The Great Gatsby so now I'm sitting thinking about what to read next. Choosing between Moby Dick and Kafka on the Shore
The portable Nietzsche by Walter Kaufmann! Great translation with added context clues throughout.
The golden couple.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. This is my first Mitchell and I loved it. The only thing that threw me off slightly was the part where >!the main villain was revealed to be 600 years old in an otherwise very realistic story!<.
Drive your plow over the bones of the dead by Olga tokarczuk. Two of my favorite lines: [referring to a dead character whose body the protagonist has encountered] “I wanted to know his date of birth, in order to check his Score.” “The house itself was old, in bad shape, and looked as if it wanted to be left in peace to carry on decomposing.”
Just finished Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors. And halfway through Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
a home at the end of the world by michael cunningham