- Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr - The collection contains the first 3 books of the Bernie Gunther series. We would have read this instead of The Quiet Flame except for the length.
- Light Years or A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter - He passed away last week at the age of 90 and these are his master works. I am so glad we read All That Is earlier this year. He once referred to himself as a “frotteur,” saying he liked to rub words between his fingers.
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt or All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - These modern epics continue to be enthusiastically recommended by many in our group but are just too long for our regular meetings.
- A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra - If you loved The Orphan Master's Son, this book is set in a small village in Chechnya and spans two wars. Curiously both Marra and Adam Johnson teach creative writing at Stanford.
- The Palace of Treason by Red Sparrow author Jason Matthews - This spy/thriller series set in post-Soviet Russia and written by a 33-year CIA veteran has great characters and depictions of spy craft.
- True Grit by Charles Portis (with fantastic intro by Donna Tartt) or The Sisters Brothers (winner of the 2012 Tournament of Books) by Patrick DeWitt - As a companion to The Son but with a Butch Cassidy flair.
- The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St Aubyn - These four short novels in one collection are an interesting modern follow up to our Lucky Jim discussion on the deterioration of the English class system. Highly autobiographical, St Aubyn is considered the greatest living prose stylist and once you are familiar with these you will see references to them constantly.
- And of course, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - Our selection for the September meeting of the Book Group and Winner of the 2015 Tournament of Books.
- Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
- The Dog by Joseph O'Neill
- 2666 by Roberto Bolano
- Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
- Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
- The Bird Skinner by Alice Greenway
Bill
I am undertaking Middlemarch this summer. Some consider it one of the best novels written in English.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is interested in a non-fiction recommendation. I am just finishing The Road to Character by David Brooks (NYT columnist). While at times it can get a bit overly preachy, nonetheless an interesting treatise on the values that are severely lacking in contemporary American. (He has a chapter on George Eliot, which prompted the comment above).
Also, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. Suggested by one of the Dennises. Harrowing but an amazing read.
Would be very interested in hearing recommendations from others.
Read Middlemarch last Summer and really enjoyed the experience. I also recommend My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead as a companion piece. It just came out in the last couple of years and really helps with some of the historical context around the novel.
DeleteNate has already provided me with a fairly extensive explanation of the land reform acts (including economic, political and historic ramifications) which form the backdrop of Middlemarch. Fortunately, if I have a question, he is only a text away. That, of course, depends upon his responding to me… a 50/50 proposition at best.
DeleteHi Everyone - I also thoroughly enjoyed the challenging but not contentious discussion of Atocha Station. I still think it sucks but all the positive views of it were strongly supported - it hit each of us at a different incoming angle. But really, a "best book of the year" for all those publications? And I was already cynical enough about public discourse in the U.S. Anyway, I strongly recommend any Philip Kerr book and the Berlin Noir trilogy is not just a good thriller but evokes the events and spirit of the Nazi rise. The Nation recently ran an article on the still-going-strong controversy over Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem" where she coined the famous "banality of evil" phrase. The article noted evidence that's come out since Arendt's book (1963) showing Eichmann as more anti-Semitic than Arendt gave him dis-credit for. I think Kerr captured this in "The Quiet Flame" and wonder if he just assumed Eichmann was anti-Semitic (logical) or if he was aware of the controversy over Arendt, her questionable point being that Eichmann could have been similarly directed towards any target. I also can strongly recommend the first two Patrick Melrose novels. His childhood (the first one) and his father are not to be wished upon anyone.
ReplyDeleteTo attend our last meeting I passed up a reading at the Brookline Booksmith by a friend of mine, Bruce MacBain. Bruce has published two terrific historical mystery novels of ancient Rome "starring" Pliny the Elder: "Roman Games" and "The Bull Slayer". Bruce knows ancient Rome the way Jimmy Breslin or Pete Hamill know New York. His most recent book is a Viking saga (are all Viking stories sagas?), "Odin's Child" - just came out and I haven't read it but will order it through our local Booksmith. Bruce is similarly expert on the Vikings. Not to be confused with The Vikings: Odinn's Child by someone else.
Barton: Mark Cecil here. I saw your other post about Yu Hua and I was excited to see it. I think he's really one of the best writers in the world right now. Absolutely one of my favorites. I've read everything of his, and my favorite was To Live, which is short too, almost novella length. There's a man writing with some real depth, about real suffering, real joy, real life. I didn't get to read Ben Lerner, but I saw his short story in the New Yorker this past week, which begins with a jaded description about someone's NYC apartment. It's like: is this what we've come here to talk about? Ben Lerner's take down of some NYC decor? Yu Hua is THE MAN.
ReplyDeleteFOR THOSE THAT DIDN'T SEE BARTON'S POST, HE WROTE, "I strongly recommend the Chinese fiction writer Yu Hua. I'm reading his novel "Brothers" and bought out the store of its two copies of his short stories (one as a present for a friend). Terrific fiction writer, outstanding translations, and while the story and characters always remain paramount, the view he gives of the Chinese system - from Cultural Revolution to the impact of Deng's early reforms on to the wild expansion of China's economy, and its impact on individual lives, is profound."
ReplyDeleteOk, you've get me fired up. I'm in for Yu Hua's Brothers. I think Mitchell may be as well. If we can get enough of a base of supporters, we could schedule a casual meeting sometime mid to late Summer. I'll shoot a note out to the broader group, as well, to let them know and further stoke the Blog momentum.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely be in for that. I'm around after the first week of August for the rest of the summer. I've read Brothers and thought it was great, and would re-read it for this.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm around I'll be there too. Have no idea which weeks in August I'll be around but good chance I'll be here. Might as well mention that Brothers is also very funny. I also second everything Mark said about Brothers. I guess we can qualify now as an official Yu Hua fan club.
ReplyDeleteThought I'd update just to keep the blog active. So far about 70 pages into Station Eleven and think it's terrific. I'm not a big post-apocalypse fan, though I enjoyed Dog Stars and Road Warrior. But St. John-Mandel is a very good writer and the story is fascinating, as is her ability to capture the magic of Shakespeare. Speaking of which, the movie "Renaissance Man" with Danny DeVito does so as well, in its own unique way. Still reading Brothers and still blown-away by how brilliant it is. That's about it. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of apocalypse and movies, I saw the new Terminator Genesis movie today and thought it was pretty good for the genre.
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