Let’s talk books

[LeeLeeCzechIrish]

19 hours ago, RK092089 said:

The last novel I finished was The Wings of the Dove by Henry James. My friend and I came to the conclusion that James' late style is too unseductively difficult for pleasure, but he's obviously a genius and that's evident in the book nonetheless. Few writers have as complex, mature, or subtle a philosophy of good and evil. Portrait of a Lady is next. But right now I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov (the Norton critical edition, with great footnotes) and working my way through Auden's Collected. Brothers is quite good. It's not about plot in the sense of action, really, but about the conversations/debates characters have. But Dosteovsky's another writer with an elegant sense of good and evil.

I have really tried with James-Reeeallly tried-cannot get into him, but love Edith Wharton. Hmm. I know it sounds very traditional, but one of my all time faves is still Frankenstein. Did anyone read the article in New Yorker on the novel's 200th birthday? Explained a lot about all that "lack of mother" stuff in there.

[CulturalCriminal]

Anyone else here love just about anything Louise Erdrich writes?

[bpilgrim89]

On 1/25/2018 at 7:47 PM, FreakyFoucault said:

For shits, a month ago, I decided to finally read Tristram Shandy. It was, by far, the most bizarre book I've ever read -- almost John Ashbery bizarre. It was, dare I say, freaky... Since then, I've been trying to figure out why Lawrence Sterne thought postmodernism would be appropriate in the 18th century, but I've got nuthin'. 

I am always SO excited to see people read TS. It is insanity - in such a good way! Any book that starts with the narrator detailing his conception is going to be a wild ride!

I just finished Vanity Fair, and I like Becky Sharp way more than I should. Maybe it's because I also want to contemptuously throw Samuel Johnson's Dictionary out a window.

[punctilious]

2 hours ago, M(allthevowels)H said:

I'm into creative writing if you count having an MFA in fiction and currently being dangerously close to missing two creative deadlines simultaneously because I've been daydreaming about new PhD cities...whoops.

My husband is also a fiction writer and had dreams of going onto an MFA, but his main goal was a PhD so we went for that. He'll continue his creative writing during his PhD anyway.  

[M(allthevowels)H]

2 hours ago, punctilious said:

My husband is also a fiction writer and had dreams of going onto an MFA, but his main goal was a PhD so we went for that. He'll continue his creative writing during his PhD anyway.  

You guys are making the right call. I spent much of my MFA trying to talk myself out of a literature PhD. Instead I just ended up taking a lot of English classes on the side and spending too much time hanging out with the EGSA, and now here I am. I also plan to continue writing in my grad program, as both additional income and palette cleanser from academic work.

[hng]

I started studying English because I thought it would be the best way to improve my creative writing. Things got out of hand, but I still write fiction, finished a (worthless?) novel about a month ago, and am now writing lots of poetry and short stories.

As for reading… Currently trying to improve my historical sense, reading Orlando Figes's A People's Tragedy, about the Russian revolution. Got on a Russian history kick after reading War and Peace, which I'm convinced is the height of novelistic achievement, along with In Search of Lost Time. Is it obvious that I'm completely enamored with length yet?

4 hours ago, CulturalCriminal said:

Anyone else here love just about anything Louise Erdrich writes?

I hated her recent novel, but I'm somehow tempted to read something else. Any suggestions?

Edited February 17, 2018 by hng

[punctilious]

I'm loving all the creative writers on here! @M(allthevowels)H and @hng (and anyone else), if you want to exchange work (fiction short stories on our end), my husband is always looking for critique buddies!

[CulturalCriminal]

@hng Shadow Tag is my favorite.

[Melvillage_Idiot]

Everyone I've ever had a class with calls me "Blood Meridian guy." Apparently, I bring it up a lot.

Recently, with my teaching job and all this application stress, I've been focused a lot less on the classics. I've got a mountain of comic book trades that I'm working through, and I'm currently reading a really wonderful, kind of under-the-radar fantasy series, The Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett.

Also, slowly, haltingly trying to get into the rhythms of a regular writing routine again. Fiction writing is sexy, so I keep trying to make myself a short story man, but I always end up going right back to creative nonfiction.

[CulturalCriminal]

4 hours ago, Melvillage_Idiot said:

Everyone I've ever had a class with calls me "Blood Meridian guy." Apparently, I bring it up a lot.

Recently, with my teaching job and all this application stress, I've been focused a lot less on the classics. I've got a mountain of comic book trades that I'm working through, and I'm currently reading a really wonderful, kind of under-the-radar fantasy series, The Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett.

Also, slowly, haltingly trying to get into the rhythms of a regular writing routine again. Fiction writing is sexy, so I keep trying to make myself a short story man, but I always end up going right back to creative nonfiction.

Lol, I just read your Americanist post, so not at all surprised on McCarthy. Have you read Harrow County, House of Penance, Pretty Deadly, or Southern Bastards? They all seem up your alley.

[Melvillage_Idiot]

10 hours ago, CulturalCriminal said:

Lol, I just read your Americanist post, so not at all surprised on McCarthy. Have you read Harrow County, House of Penance, Pretty Deadly, or Southern Bastards? They all seem up your alley.

Southern Bastards is one of my absolute favorites. I gave the first trade of Pretty Deadly a try, but it just didn't click with me. Harrow County has been on my radar for a while, but I've not gotten to it, and I haven't heard of House of Penance, so thanks for a new title to find! Also in my backlog of things to try, there's Moonshine, God Country, Hillbilly, and (if I ever get around to buying it) Warlords of Appalachia (which I know absolutely nothing about other than the title, haha!).

[E. Coronaria]

I have an awkward confession to make: I haven't read anything strictly for pleasure in a long time. Please don't misunderstand, my research and learning give me pleasure, but it doesn't have the same feeling of escapism. I tried Dune last, but I didn't like the styling of the sentences (petty, I know, but it made it hard to slip into another world). What are your recommendations for something beautiful, intelligent, carefully crafted, that is also likely to whisk me away to somewhere special (while I eagerly wait for August ).

[EspritHabile]

1 hour ago, E. Coronaria said:

I have an awkward confession to make: I haven't read anything strictly for pleasure in a long time. Please don't misunderstand, my research and learning give me pleasure, but it doesn't have the same feeling of escapism. I tried Dune last, but I didn't like the styling of the sentences (petty, I know, but it made it hard to slip into another world). What are your recommendations for something beautiful, intelligent, carefully crafted, that is also likely to whisk me away to somewhere special (while I eagerly wait for August ).

If you want to escape via science fiction (I'm guessing this since you mentioned Dune), I'd recommend just about anything by Hugh Howey: http://www.hughhowey.com/  Wool is fun, and Beacon 23 is quick and immersive. I also love Margaret Atwood's work and The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (but don't bother with Water Knife). 

If you want something cute and funny, Sheepish is delightful. https://www.catherinefriend.com/books_adults/bk_sheepish.html

[E. Coronaria]

1 hour ago, EspritHabile said:

If you want to escape via science fiction (I'm guessing this since you mentioned Dune), I'd recommend just about anything by Hugh Howey: http://www.hughhowey.com/  Wool is fun, and Beacon 23 is quick and immersive. I also love Margaret Atwood's work and The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (but don't bother with Water Knife). 

If you want something cute and funny, Sheepish is delightful. https://www.catherinefriend.com/books_adults/bk_sheepish.html

Oh! I'll check these out! Thank you!

[LibraryLivingJT]

I read along with what I'm teaching my students so I am always fresh. This summer will be when I finally have some real reading time, and I'm looking forward to it

[LibraryLivingJT]

Also, if you're looking for some good fiction, I highly recommend Roth's The Plot Against America - my students love it, and it's very timely.

[Yanaka]

I'm currently reading What We Lose and What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky, and it's all preeeeeetty depressing. I love how so many black authors are popping up at my bookstore, and I'm devouring their books avidly--but man these two are SAD

[JustPoesieAlong]

On 2/18/2018 at 5:58 PM, Melvillage_Idiot said:

Everyone I've ever had a class with calls me "Blood Meridian guy." Apparently, I bring it up a lot.

This is high on my to-read list, particularly for it's parallels to Paradise Lost. Just realized that, in my fervor to prepare for moving, I packed my copy up with a load of other books. Bummer. Maybe next summer I'll get around to it. 

Edited March 20, 2018 by JustPoesieAlong

[Melvillage_Idiot]

49 minutes ago, JustPoesieAlong said:

This is high on my to-read list, particularly for it's parallels to Paradise Lost. Just realized that, in my fervor to prepare for moving, I packed my copy up with a load of other books. Bummer. Maybe next summer I'll get around to it. 

Dooooooooo iiiiiiitttttttttt =P Especially if Milton's your jam, it's worth a look. It's also got tons of parallels to Moby--Dick, which was interesting for me because I read BM first, so I spent a lot of my undergrad Melville seminar going, "Oh, so that's where McCarthy got it."

On other book fronts, I've been trying to spin my obsession with food science podcasts into a book collection, and I've been reading Immortal Milk: Adventures in Cheese by Eric LeMay. He did a reading a couple weeks ago at my school, and I picked it up there. Food is always fun, and not enough has been written about it for my taste (pun absolutely intended).

Edited March 20, 2018 by Melvillage_Idiot

[ClassyBrat420]

Y'all a bunch of lit nerds making me doubt my nerd status with your smart books. I'm over here reading sci-fi. Albeit, great sci-fi. Lilith's Brood by Octavia butler is PRIMO. Followed closely by Parable of the Sower, which was just adapted into the queerest, radicalist, bombest play I've seen ever.

[bumbleblu]

7 hours ago, ClassyBrat420 said:

Y'all a bunch of lit nerds making me doubt my nerd status with your smart books. I'm over here reading sci-fi. Albeit, great sci-fi. Lilith's Brood by Octavia butler is PRIMO. Followed closely by Parable of the Sower, which was just adapted into the queerest, radicalist, bombest play I've seen ever.

I read Lilith's Brood for a sci-fi class during my M.A. and I LOVED IT. And I'm not usually into sci-fi. 

[havemybloodchild]

I need this thread to come back to life!

Recently read Cats Cradle, always a fun one, especially for an ongoing existential crisis like myself.  Reading Cat's Eye now.  What?  I like cats AND great literature.

As for favorite books I've read this year, I would say The Round House by Louise Erdrich, Bearing the Body (can't remember the author's name right now), and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- one of the most gorgeous books I've ever read.  Also always love anything by Ana Castillo.

 

Please distract me with your faves, folks!

[disidentifications]

10 hours ago, kendalldinniene said:

Reading Cat's Eye now.

Ohhh I love this book and it's probably due for a reread soon, though I'm currently still working through my TBR pile for this year. Am slowly making my way through Anna Burn's Milkman (not as difficult as reviews make it out to be; quite dark and tender actually) and Olga Tokarczuk's Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (wacky and brilliant), whilst rereading some old John Bergers and Anne Carsons for class next year. 

[beardedlady]

I'm now reading Baldwin's Go Tell it On the Mountain, after starting Alaisder Gray's Lanark and finding it too horrifying and nightmare-inducing for application-writing season. I will return to it once the terror of applications subsides (April?) because I do love its grotesque craziness. Hoping to begin Auster's 4 3 2 1 in a few days (I love historical, intergenerational narratives and generally like Auster, so I'm hoping it'll be good). My favorite novel this year has to be Americanah, but in terms of all time faves... The Well of Loneliness and Wide Sargasso Sea are right up there.

[Bopie5]

14 hours ago, kendalldinniene said:

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- one of the most gorgeous books I've ever read. 

Big agree here! Little Fires Everywhere is also excellent, but there's something about EINTY  that really just immersed me. 

56 minutes ago, beardedlady said:

My favorite novel this year has to be Americanah

SUCH love for this book as well!

This year, I think my favorite reads were Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho, The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. 

Currently reading The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter by Kia Corthron, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid!