Random books from SeanLong's library
Station Island by Seamus Heaney
Collected stories by Mary Lavin
Let the Great World Spin: A Novel by Colum McCann
Zappa: A Biography by Barry Miles
Big Bad Love by Larry Brown
Three American Architects: Richardson, Sullivan, and Wright, 1865-1915 by James F. O'Gorman
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Friends: alphaorder, Donachca, jkavanagh, Joycepa, mkunruh, Pat_D, rmckeown
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LibraryThing authors: Colum McCann (ColumMcCann), Philipp Meyer (PEM09), Arthur Phillips (arthurphillips), Dan Chaon (danchaon), Erin Hart (erinhart), Joseph Lee (joecflee), Richard Price (rixsal)
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Member: SeanLong
CollectionsYour library (668), Currently reading (3), All collections (668)
Reviews32 reviews
TagsIrish literature (90), American literature (42), Southern literature (38), American nonfiction (27), Architecture (21), Books on books (21), Southern literature reference (14), Irish-American literature (13), Irish nonfiction (12), Irish poetry (11) — see all tags
Cloudstag cloud, author cloud
Groups1001 Books to read before you die, Author Theme Reads, BBC Radio 3 Listeners, Book Nudgers, Books in Books, British & Irish Crime Fiction, Catholic Tradition, Club Read 2009, Country & Bluegrass, Deep South — show all groups
Favorite authorsJohn Banville, Larry Brown, Raymond Carver, Roddy Doyle, William Faulkner, Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavanagh, Mary Lavin, Bernard MacLaverty, Colum McCann, Cormac McCarthy, John McGahern, Edna O'Brien, Flannery O'Connor, Frank O'Connor, Joseph O'Connor, Colm Tóibín, William Trevor, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams (Shared favorites)
About meBorn in a little townland in Ireland called Kilrush in County Clare. Came to the U.S. as a young boy with my family and settled and grew up in the foothills of the Applachian Mountains in Pennsylvania. Now living in the beautiful hills of Lake County, Florida with my wife and nine year old daughter, both of whom love to read!
The lad in the middle of the picture holding the football is yours truly, circa 1960 in Galway, Ireland.
About my libraryBooks are arranged by American fiction and non-fiction, books about books, Southern literature and history, Irish-American literature and history, Chicago and Pittsburgh architecture, and Irish literature, folklore, poetry, history, memoir and music.
Best of 2009 in no particular order:
FICTION
War Trash by Ha Jin
Lark and Termite by Jane Anne Phillips
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon
NONFICTION
Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey (The best example of literary biography since Richard Ellmann's biography of James Joyce, IMOHO).
Closing Time: A Memoir by Joe Queenan
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum
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http://www.librarything.com/profile/SeanLong (profile)
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Common KnowledgeSeries (47), Awards (184), Characters (617), Places (209)
Member sinceApr 27, 2006
Currently readingThe Silver Swan: A Novel by Benjamin Black
Warlock (New York Review Books Classics) by Oakley Hall
I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down: Collected Stories by William Gay
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posted by jkavanagh at 8:18 pm (EST) on Oct 30, 2009
Hope all is well with you and yours,I have not been on here in ages, like you work and more work keeping me busy......(All hell has just broken out here,a niece of mine just checking her final law exam results online as we speak, she passed, a lot of noise here.) Anyway sorry you didn't get to Clare this year, but there is always next Summer. Things are really bad here, have not seen anything like it since the eighties, it's actually worse, at least then there was emigration, not that we want that now, but you know what I mean, jobs are disappearing by the hundred every day/week. There is a generation of young people in their 30's who knew nothing but wealth and good times,suddenly they are unemployed, they don't know what has hit them. Strange, strange times. By the way you are now talking to Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh, I was elected to Letterkenny Town Council in June, so there you go, bet you never thought I was that mad. I must say I am enjoying it, but it will be tough with very little money to spend on anything. I am not readinhg anything at the moment, but I have bought a good few books and just waiting for a nice break at Christmas and getting some serious reading done. I hope this finds you well and I hope you are still getting enough time to enjoy some books, by the way if I can ever source anything for you here, just let me know, and I will do my best to get them for you, take care and best regards, Jimmy.
posted by jkavanagh at 4:29 pm (EST) on Oct 23, 2009
I still can't believe our literary tastes run so parallel at times, as I read and loved both Dave Eggers' Zeitoun and especially Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply, which I was totally mesmerized by, just a terrific book from beginning to end. I also enjoyed Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel Of Human Bondage, which completed my reading of all Maugham's novels, though my favorites were The Painted Veil and The Razor's Edge.
Despite all of the conspicuous praise it's received, I just hated Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs, which jumped the shark so many times I lost count, and I have no kind words at all for Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood either, another that's been way over-praised, but only left me wondering what I had missed. I should have known better than to read Pat Conroy's South of Broad. It was really beautifully written at times, but was no more than another major shark-jumper crammed with unrealistic characters and bogus motivation, wish I'd missed it.
I'm guessing the Stieg Larsson novels aren't your normal cup of tea, but I thought The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was as entertaining as anything I've read this year, and The Girl Who Played with Fire was almost as good too.
Right now I'm halfway through Morris Dickstein's Dancing in the Dark a cultural history of the 1930's, which is pretty good so far, and then I'm on to Philip Caputo's new book Crossers and Richard Powers' Generosity, both highly anticipated as well. All the luck!!
PS - FYI Zeitoun's the only paste & paper thing I've read in the last few months, everything else came via Kindle.
posted by LouisBranning at 1:50 pm (EST) on Oct 14, 2009
Mark
posted by msf59 at 8:54 pm (EST) on Sep 1, 2009
Long time. My favourite read so far this year has been The Radetsky March by Joseph Roth. An absolute treasure. Hope all is well with you.
Amanda XX
posted by amandameale at 9:32 am (EST) on Jul 20, 2009
I've now got 15 books on my Kindle, 4 of which I've read, and having my whole TBR pile right at my fingertips is still an amazing thing to me. It may not sound like a big deal, but last week I changed to a larger font size, and it's made all the difference in the world. It's much easier on my eyes, and made the Kindle even more addictive than it already was. It's inevitable that you'll be getting one sooner or later, and can't help but think you're gonna love it as much as I do.
I finished Let the Great World Spin last week and liked it pretty much, but was a little disappointed with it overall. I never found the characters compelling enough to care much about, but the whole thing was fast moving and well-written enough to keep my interest till the end. I'm not much on spy novels per se, but last week I finally read my first book ever by Alan Furst called The Spies of Warsaw and was purely delighted by it. Despite the consistently wonderful reviews his books have received over the last few years, I'd resisted picking him up, and sorry now I didn't sooner. Furst's book was as engagingly written, and as entertaining as anything I've read lately. Right now I'm about 40 pages into Colm Toibin's Brooklyn and really liking it so far. I knew you'd admired it, and Toibin's as impressive a writer as any working right now too, and Brooklyn's great stuff so far.
Up next is Nick Harkaway's new book The Gone-Away World which I'm really looking forward to, and then Maugham's Of Human Bondage, the only thing of Maugham's I haven't read in the last 2 years.
Sean, starting late today, I'm going to be off the grid for the next 2 weeks. A bit of family business has arisen that only I can handle, so I'll be away from a computer till probably mid-July, and will drop you a note as soon as I get back in gear here. Wish my luck, old friend, and I'll be talking to you again soon. Happy trails!!
posted by LouisBranning at 8:03 am (EST) on Jun 30, 2009
The 'space' problem solved: I've got over 1,250 hardbacks now, and it's been evident for some time that I was due to buy a new bookcase pretty soon, so with the 1,200 book capacity on my K., I won't be needing any new book shelves for a long time.
Kindle editions are cheaper: Almost everything is 9.99, with only a few exceptions here and there. Books in public domain and all the classics are dirt-cheap too. I paid $.99 for Forster's A Room With a View, paid 1.99 for Maugham's Of Human Bondage, and 3.99 for Mann's Death in Venice & Other Stories. I'd already paid my "Amazon Prime" shipping fee for this year back in Jan., but will cancel it at year's end. "Free Shipping" is now superfluous. I've also subscribed to Newsweek magazine. It arrives wielessly every Monday morning for 1.49 a month, alreadyt received 3 issus.
Today's the official release date of the US edition of Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. I'd ordered a paste&paper copy for $15.00 a month ago, but cancelled it last week and pre-ordered the K version for 9.99 instead. I turned the K. on at 2:00 this morning, and a5 2:05 it was completely downloaded, all ready to read, which is what I've been doing since then. Is this just too cool or what?
You've got to have a 'cover' for the Kindle. It's a purely beautiful white object, but it's gonna get dusty for sure, and handling it a lot's gonna hand-stain it quickly too; plus any item gets dinged and nicked with repeated use over time, and expecially (GOD FORBED) should you drop it. A Cover eleminates all these problems, and the one I use also folds neatly into a 'reading platform' that you can adjust to any angle.
The built-in dictionary feature works great, easy to use, and I'm really enjoyng the note-taking capability too, you can journalize on each book or separately. I've bought all but 2 books through the wireless K. store, very easy to use, 'search' is simple. The 2 books I bought on-line arrived at once as well, just as if I bought it wirelessly on the K.
Sorry to ramble on, but thought you might be a bit curious about my current reading transition, and the McCann is just superbn so far too. All the best!
posted by LouisBranning at 7:56 am (EST) on Jun 23, 2009
My little kids are out of school now, their 10th birthday is coming up in 2 weeks, and they start Art Camp the next day, so summer's starting with a mild frenzy, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves right now. Hope you and your family are fat and happy too. Happy trails!
posted by LouisBranning at 5:06 am (EST) on May 29, 2009
Mark
posted by msf59 at 7:35 pm (EST) on May 18, 2009
To me the most interesting parts of Bailey's bio were the details of Cheever's love/hate relationship with John Updike, one of my all-time favorite American writers, and if you've never read any of his books, then you're in for a treat-and-a-half. You should read the 4 Angstrom novels of course, but never as stand-alones or out of order. If you picked up Rabbit at Rest right now you'd miss every one of the allusions to Rabbit's elaborate back-story that the first 2 novels provide, with the book's impact severely diminished. It did win the fiction Pulitzer in 1981, as did Rabbit at Rest in 1990. A perfect Updike stand-alone is The Centaur from 1963, the National Book Award winner that year, and Cheever never wrote a novel half as good. And once you read Rabbit,Run you'll never be able to resist the next 3, I promise.
I think you're gonna love Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. It's about as much fun as you're gonna have with your pants on, and definitely one of my favorites so far this year. I've got about a hundred pages left in Rabbit is Rich, loving nearly every page too, and will save Rabbit at Rest for next month. Next is Zoe Heller's The Believers, and probably American Rust after that. Happy trails!
posted by LouisBranning at 6:29 am (EST) on Apr 7, 2009
posted by LouisBranning at 6:45 pm (EST) on Mar 17, 2009
I also disliked Stacey D'Erasmo's The Sky Below and Chris Cleave's Little Bee, but had a blast with T.C.Boyle's The Women, and he remains one of my very favorite contemporary writers. I reread Updike's Rabbit,Run earlier in the month and it blew me away, so decided to reread the entire quartet, the last 2 of which both won Pulitzers. I've just started on Rabbit Redux, and after that will get to Abraham's Verghese's Cutting for Stone which is supposed to be terrific. All the luck!
posted by LouisBranning at 6:02 am (EST) on Feb 26, 2009
Thanks again,
Chris
posted by cmtusa at 9:47 am (EST) on Feb 20, 2009
Just a quick note to let you know that my new novel, Dirty Little Angels, is now available. Thought you might like it since it's been compared to Larry Brown, whom I noticed you like. Here's a link to a summary in case you're interested:
http://christophertusa.com/blog/?page_id...
Take care,
Chris
posted by cmtusa at 12:04 am (EST) on Feb 20, 2009
I am currently reading Rick Moody as a bit of light relief from the uber-melancholic and depression inducing books I've been reading lately. I can start Beckett on the weekend but as it is the hardcopy centenary edition of the novels, I won't be carrying it around in my handbag so maybe it will take a little time for me to finish (I tend to read on the go more than I do at home). I'll keep you posted.
Pummz
posted by Pummzie at 7:11 pm (EST) on Jan 20, 2009
Thanks for the add.
I saw virtually of all Beckett's plays as a result of the centenary productions a couple of years back and I just fell in love with his mind. I have been revisiting them for quick reads ever since and would happily watch many of them again. I would recommend that you read Krapp's Last Tape and Endgame and catch them if you can wherever you can.
I haven't actually read the novels yet although I have them. Maybe we could both read them and compare notes. Molley, Malone Dies and the Unnameable were written as a trilogy of novels (although I'm not sure that there the content is connected). Maybe we should kick off with Molley?
Btw I have joined a group this week that may well interest you - it is a club read group which focusses on authors. They are in the process of selecting the author for the next month at the moment. I'll send you an invite.
Pummz
btw I've noticed that Joyce isn't on your list of favourite authors and he is on my list of authors to tackle this year. Do you think Ulysses is destined to languish on the shelf as one of those books that I always meant to read...
posted by Pummzie at 1:22 pm (EST) on Jan 20, 2009
Mark
p.s. my maternal Grandmother was born in Ireland and I'm very proud of that!
posted by msf59 at 11:31 am (EST) on Jan 20, 2009
I want to sincerely thank you for your raves on Ron Rash's Serena, which I thought entirely as entertaining as anything I read last year, and will be recommending for a long time. What a delusional bitch she was, but what a story!, just loved it.
I completely despised SKing's stories in Just After Sunset, not a decent one in the whole depressing bunch, but it happens that one of my kids had just finished Richard Bachman's Blaze, gave it straight to me, and I gulped it down like the fine cotton-candy it turned out to be, proving that once-upon-a-time SKing knew how to write a great pulp novel and did.
I was also grossly disappointed in Adiga's The White Tiger, think it ranks right alongside Vernon God Little as the epitome of poor-choice Bookers, and not even half-as-good as Phil Hensher's Northern Clemency. Another relative let-down was Aleksandar Hemon's The Lazarus Project, which started off well, but became diffuse and meandering, and I was glad when the damn thing was finally over. I was more than pleasantly surprised by James Howard Kunstler's World Made By Hand, a story of post-apocalypse America that was neither maudlin nor depressing, but concentrated instead on the practicalities of life which somehow wound-up seeming much more 'hopeful' than 'hopeless', an excellent novel I'd recommend in a heartbeat.
I also rather disliked David Benioff's City of Thieves which had been highly touted elsewhere, but was really not much more than a flimsy screenplay masquerading as a not-very-convincing novel, and mostly a waste of time. Right now I'm nearly finished with Lionel Shriver's 517-page The Post-Birthday World which has been as surprising as it's been stunning. I'd avoided her Orange winner We Need To Talk About Kevin due to its subject matter, and really have no idea why I picked up TP-BW, but I've been loving nearly every page of it, and though it's certainly not a book for everyone, think you might find it interesting too. All the luck!!
PS: I'd meant to shower praise on Adam Braver's November 22, 1963 but it quite slipped my mind, but I thought it a terrific book and you must check it out if you haven't already.
posted by LouisBranning at 6:33 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2009
I thought Coal Black Horse was one of the most beautifully written books I've read in many years. I loved the way the prose changed to suit what Robey was going through, and loved the story itself. you know the old saw--there are only a half dozen plots--and certainly coming of age is one of them, but rarely have I seen it so classily done.
Loved Louis' comment below. we voted from here, and I absolutely SCREAMED when CNN projected (I was following via computer) that he'd won--and then broke down and cried my heart out. Events to date seem to bear out that the country for a change has done the right thing.
Good to hear from you! How are things going with you, anyway?
Joyce
posted by Joycepa at 2:37 pm (EST) on Nov 23, 2008
Wow, you've read some great stuff lately. I've read most of Turgenev, including Sketches from a Hunter's Album, but the one I usually recommend is Father and Son, really a wonderful little book. I've also read most of Harry Crews' books, even met him once in Memphis after a reading, and always have admired A Childhood too. He's a hard-core maniac of course, but you shouldn't miss his novel Body either, a stunner.
I've read Naipul's Bend in the River and A House for Mr. Biswas, but otherwise don't count myself as a fan of his, just something about his style that leaves me cold and mostly disengaged. That's NOT the case with Tobias Wolff though. I loved Old School and This Boy's Life, and have eagerly recommended them for years. I read Our Story Begins earlier this year and quite enjoyed it, but found I liked his earlier stories better than the later ones.
Last month I read Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, just a superb memoir of her family's travails during the upheavals of mid-century China, then went on to Sarah Waters' The Night Watch which was just OK, though reasonably entertaining. I was so blown away by Interpreter of Maladies that for 3 days after I finished it I couldn't even pick up another book, such a miracle string of stories they were. And then I finally settled on something I'd put off reading for 30 years, Wallace Stegner's 1943 novel The Big Rock Candy Mountain and thoroughly loved it, didn't want it to end, and as grim as a lot of it was, it's now my favorite of all his books, and see it as truly the lynch-pin of his entire career.
I don't usually go overboard to recommend a book I haven't finished yet, but I'm well past halfway in Philip Hensher's 600-page The Northern Clemency and you should sprint to Amazon at once to get it, because this one's the real deal, one of the 2 or 3 best books of the year. It was Booker short-listed and just pubbed here last month, sort of a more compelling and veddy British version of The Corrections, quite strikingly written as well, consistently hilarious, and not to be missed. I've got King's Just After Sunset and Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers up next, both certifiable brain candy, but neither ought to cost me too many IQ points. Happy trails, old friend.
posted by LouisBranning at 5:49 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2008
About 5 years ago I bought a signed 1st ed. of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, and decided it was time to give it a go. It took me almost 3 weeks, but I finished it last week, and while I found most of it brilliant stuff, it was occasionally tedious and sort of helter-skelter, plus with its 1000-plus pages, becomes a difficult book to recommend. Nevertheless, I'm glad I finally read it, especially in light of DFW's recent neck-tie-party-for-one.
I heartily recommend you find a copy of the new Rolling Stone magazine (with Barack on the cover), because there an absolutely marvelous extended mini-biography of DFW that sheds new light on both his mental and pharmacological demons, and also details his deep friendship with Jonathan Franzen, something I wasn't aware of at all. The whole thing's a real eye-opener, with awesome pictures too, completely fascinating, but still extremely sad.
Right now I'm nearly 200 pages into Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope and enjoying it quite a bit. I expect I'll get around to Marilynne Robinson's Home sooner or later, but think I'll pick up Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies next. All the luck!!
posted by LouisBranning at 2:56 pm (EST) on Oct 23, 2008
posted by jkavanagh at 4:58 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2008
And I'm wired the same way as you are: I cannot and will not read 2 or more books at the same time. When I read I focus rather intently on whatever it is, and feel I'm diluting my concentration by trying to read more than one book at a time; in essence, short-changing both myself the the respective authors.
I finished Philip Roth's new book Indignation and really enjoyed it, plus I had just got the new Library of America volume Philip Roth: Novels and Other Narratives, 1968-1991, and then finished The Facts from 1987 which is Roth's only autobiography of record, and it was absolutely fantastic. In the first three-quarters of it, Roth gives a charming but rather bloodless account of his life to that point(he was 55 then), and in the last section Roth's most famous character Zuckerman delivers a scathing critique of what Roth's written, picking it apart fact-by-fact, a fitting coup-de-gras and a brilliant technique.
But what was hyper-cool was to read Indignation first, and then read The Facts, and to see how closely Indignation paralleled Roth's life, which it did extensively, and I was just amazed that at 75 he could still write from such a youthful perspective, and despite some of its grimmer aspects, was really a fun little book.
Then I finished Roth's Deception from 1990, and didn't care for it much, thought his dialogue-only approach a poor choice, a misstep, and was never able to warm up to it at all. Right now I'm taking a short break from mid-career PRoth and am 50-plus pages into Chris Adrian's first novel Gob's Grief and like its januty tone that's imbued with a rather low-key mordancy, very soothing in a way, though clearly not a book for everyone. And though I know you might hate it, I still want to recommend Adrian's epic The Children's Hospital, a book quite unlike anything else I've ever read. Happy trails!
posted by LouisBranning at 6:53 pm (EST) on Sep 27, 2008
Right now you're surely knee-deep in The Brothers K, and I apologize if I've already told you this story before, but when it was pubbed in April 1992, I completely ignored it because I thought it was about 'baseball', which mostly bores me to the nines. But about 4 months after it came out, I made the acquaintance of the late Shelby Foote at a local bookstore one Sunday afternoon, and we spent a half-hour talking about books old and new, and besides recommending that I read Proust immediately, Foote said The Brothers K,/i> was his favorite American novel he'd read in the last 10 years, and I took a copy home that same afternoon. I was just completely demolished by it and have recommended it ever since. Only last week I got an e-mail from a guy I haven't seen in over a year, who'd just finished Duncan's book, and he thanked me rather effusively for recommending it, said it was the best book he'd ever read in his life.
I finished Jennet Conant's The Irregulars last week and absolutely loved it, and feel like I've got a much better handle on Dahl's life than I had before, as Treglown's biography didn't have half the stuff in it that Conant's book does, but so much of this info only became declassified and available as source material in 1998, but it's definitely one hell of a story.
Till now I've avoided reading anything at all concerning the damnable war in Iraq, but I just finished Dexter Filkins' magnificent The Forever War and think it should be required reading for every US citizen. This book's like getting hit by a flame-thrower, an instant classic that will win every prize in sight, and there's no way you should miss it. All the luck!
posted by LouisBranning at 11:13 am (EST) on Sep 20, 2008
I think I've mentioned before that me and 2 of my triplets are big Roald Dahl fans. Jonathan's already read every one of his children's books, and Ben's finished about half of them too. Just a year or so ago I read Dahl's 850-page Collected Stories, all his adult stories presented in their chronological order, and this 2006 Everyman's Library edition is the only hardcover of it available, and worth every dime of its $30 sticker price too, that is, of course, if you can find one. The libraries snapped up most of the 1st printing, and a 2nd was mostly gone within 6 months, so there's not too many left out there as we speak. In the meantime, I'm half way through Jennet Conant's marvelous new history The Irregulars, which is subtitled Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington, and you can probably imagine how much fun I've been having with it so far, recommended to the max. Happy trails!
posted by LouisBranning at 3:00 pm (EST) on Sep 12, 2008
There's been such a dearth of interesting new fiction lately that I've been doing a bunch of non-fiction. It took me 11 days, but I finished Daniel Walker Howe's Pulitzer-winner What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848, mostly just as stimulating as it was informative, if only just a tad dry now and then. Then I read Norman Mailer's Pulitzer and NBA-winning The Armies of the Night from 1967, and followed it with his 1968 book Miami and The Siege of Chicago, both fairly ground-breaking items of their era, and still surprisingly relevant today, both rereads from 40 years ago.
I also reread Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, a book I've always loved, and it was, as ever, simply grand. Most people aren't aware that there's actually 2 versions of Waugh's masterpiece. While recuperating from a parachute mishap and working in a relative frenzy, Waugh wrote the original mss. between Feb 1 and June 10, 1944, and it became immensely successful as it stood. In 1959 Waugh revised it for a new edition, editing out numerous references to the war while restructuring it completely, and it's this revamped version that we have now, the one Waugh was finally satisfied with. I've read both, and yes, the latter version easily outshadows the earlier one.
I only just finished John Steinbeck's 1935 novel Tortilla Flat, which is still quite charming, though only a modest accomplishment alongside his greater books that came later. Right now I'm a hundred pages into Barack Obama's memoir Dreams From My Father, and it's been exceptional so far, and will probably get to Marilynne Robinson's new book Home next. All the luck!!
posted by LouisBranning at 6:27 am (EST) on Sep 5, 2008
Sean, I've gotta recommend you take a look at Chris Adrian, surely one of the most unusual writers working today. At present he's a working pediatrician at a Boston hospital, while also in his last year of divinity studies at Harvard. I've not yet read his first novel Gob's Grief, but his second novel The Children's Hospital blew me away and remains one of my favorite books from the last few years. His new book of short stories A Better Angel contains 9 stories, all previously pubbed in either the New Yorker, McSweeney's, Zoetrope, Esquire, or Tin House, and are as an arresting group as any I've read this year, easily comparable in inventiveness and substance to the Millhauser book which we both admired so much. A reviewer once called Adrian's work "medical magical realism", not exactly a poor description, but one that in no way does justice to the breadth of his talent, and the last 5 stories in A Better Angel are purely phenomenal. There's also an excellent interview with Adrian this month at Bookslut and I found it all just intensely interesting, so you might check it out.
Matthew Kneale's English Passengers was one of the biggest surprises I've had all year, and definitely one of the greatest historical novels I've read in the last 10 years, just an amazing book that's as hilarious as it is harrowing, and can't recommend it any higher. I just finished T.J. English's Havana Nocturne and loved it to the max, even though I'd read Lansky's bio Little Man which covered a lot of the same territory. And hey, there's even a mention of Mount Dora in it too, where Lansky stops briefly to swipe an orange. I think you're really gonna like this one. All the luck!
posted by LouisBranning at 5:22 pm (EST) on Aug 16, 2008
I finished Doug Dorst's Alive in Necropolis the other day and liked it well enough, but it didn't really click for me, mainly because I found his protagonist a bit of a loser, and the fantasy elements of the story were intrusive too, mostly boring and schlockey. Right now I'm about 200 pages into Matthew Kneale's 2000 novel English Passengers and it's been absolutely terrific so far, wonderful characters and top-of-the-line storytelling, a great boook and highly recommended.
There's been such a dearth of decent new fiction the last month or so, but up next is Chris Adrian's new book of short stories A Better Angel, which has only had so-so reviews so far, but after The Children's Hospital, I'm completely oblivious to what any half-assed reviewer might say about Adrian, and intend to read everything he writes from here on. After that, I'm on to T.J. English's non-fiction saga of pre-Castro Cuba Havana Nocturne, and I also plan to re-read Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece Brideshead Revisited, one of the greatest novels of the last century IMVHO, and only hope I love it like I did the first time. All the luck?
posted by LouisBranning at 7:19 pm (EST) on Aug 9, 2008
Just FYI, I was born and lived my first 19 years in Vicksburg, Miss., completely steeped in deep South Civil War lore from the cradle, and as a kid knew the huge array of battlefields surrounding Vicksburg like the back of my hand. I've been to Shiloh a couple of times too in the last 10 years, and I even spent a couple of days visiting the battlegrounds at Gettysburg. Growing up I think I read nearly every significant history of the Civil War available, and Grant's account of the siege of Vicksburg truly brings back a lot of memories. Both Bruce Catton's awesome Grant Moves South and Foote's The Beleaguered City tell the same story in more detail of course, but U.S.G.'s story offers the most unique perspective of all I think. All the luck!
posted by LouisBranning at 9:55 am (EST) on Aug 3, 2008
I finished Brendan Koerner's Now the Hell Will Start and loved it, as exciting a piece of non-fiction as I've read this year, as well as a harrowing treatise on the plantation mentality of the US Army and its despicable treatment of black GIs in WWII, truly an affecting piece of work though. I absolutely hated Natsuo Kirino's new book Real World and really wanted my money back on it, nothing but pure piffle, and only one cut above an average manga comic. I'm still in shock that the NYTBR gave this crap-fest a cover review too.
I'll be reading Doug Dorst's Alive in Necropolis pretty soon, but first I'm jumping head-first into Ulysses S. Grant's Personal Memoirs, a book I've put off reading for years, but now feels like just the right time finally. All the luck!!
posted by LouisBranning at 6:21 am (EST) on Jul 30, 2008
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 10:30 pm (EST) on Jul 27, 2008
I've read and liked all of Tim O'Brien's Vietnam books and The Things They Carried has to be the best of the bunch, though Stephen Wright's Meditations in Green remains the gold standard of Vietnam war novels, along with Herr's (mostly) non-fiction Dispatches. I spent the scariest year of my life (1967-68) in beautiful sun-drenched S.Vietnam, helped celebrate Tet and got a Bronze Star, saw all the sights, and have read nearly everything ever published on this harrowing bit of US history.
I just couldn't find much to like about Tim Winton's Breath. I know it's had some great reviews and strong word-of-mouth, but neither the writing nor the story were very impressive, and I was bored silly by Winton's watery saga and his rather dim-witted surfing freaks. In the last few weeks Yardley's raved about Seth Greenland's Shining City, which I laughed at consistently, but didn't find as amusing as his book The Bones from 2005, which JY also highly praises in the same column. JY also raved about Brendan Koerner's Now the Hell Will Start and I'm nearly halfway through it already, a book that'll easily make my non-fiction favorites' list, just an unbelieveable story and riveting to the max. All the luck!!
posted by LouisBranning at 6:25 am (EST) on Jul 22, 2008
I thought Ethan Canin's America America was excellent, despite a little lameness now and then, but still, a very entertaining novel. Finished Seth Greenland's Shining City,/i> which JY had raved about 2 weeks ago, and mostly laughed my ass off, though it was never close to being as funny as his riotous The Bones from a couple years ago.
If you think I'm not a Joyce Carol Oate4s fan then please check out my library, but this awesome writer's new book My Sister, My Love just blew me away, a slam-fisted, take-no-prisoners satire on pop culture that is one of the best I've read this year. Sorry for the length, old bud, all the luck!
PS - We're all knee keep in GTA4, blowing and going and even using the Cheats nov to make it all even speedier, a total mind-fuck of a game. Cheers!!
posted by LouisBranning at 5:58 pm (EST) on Jul 13, 2008
Nevertheless, I did manage to read Larry Brown's Father and Son and had completely forgotten what made it such a terrific book, but wow, I was glued to the thing for 2 days and blown away again at its off-hand greatness. I also read Duane Swierczynski's Severance Package, and I have to admire a book whose cover blurb says, "Ever want to kill your boss? Well guess what, THE FEELING IS MUTUAL". This was recommended by Sarah Weinman at Idiosyncratic Mind and it's nothing but the hardcore bomb: cynical, violent, and hilarious too, and the full-page illustrations are nightmarish to the max, loved it down to its black little heart.
Right now I'm a hundred pages into Joyce Carol Oates' new one My Sister, My Love, a 560-page rip on the Jon-Benet Ramsey tragedy which I'm really enjoying, but I've long since reached the stage where I'll read anything JCO writes, and this one's pretty fine so far. All the luck!!
posted by LouisBranning at 5:48 am (EST) on Jun 27, 2008
http://journal.readerville.com/
http://journal.readerville.com/readervil...
Cheers,
Pat D
posted by Pat_D at 6:04 am (EST) on Jun 23, 2008
I was bored witless by the new Lee Child book Nothing to Lose, but Jonathan Miles' Dear American Airlines came as a very pleasant surprise, and I think you'd really like it. Besides being extremely funny, it's also rather wise and very sad too, plus I found the voice of the Benjamin Ford character very hard to resist. What amazed me the most about it though, is that at first glance the book looks tiny and short at 180 pages, but it's so surprisingly dense, with a lot to read and think about, and it took me almost 4 days to get through it, truly a terrific novel though.
Right now I'm about 50 pages into Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture and liking it all quite a bit so far, lots of Irish in there too. All the luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:48 am (EST) on Jun 13, 2008
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:58 am (EST) on Jun 4, 2008
The book you just purchased is high on my list of Civil War must-have books--but I haven't bought it yet. When I learned last year (I think--time is a slippery element with me!) that a treasure trove of Lee's letters to his daughter had been uncovered, I made a mental note to keep up with whatever was going to happen on that front. Lee is probably one of the most difficult prominent American figures to grasp as a human being because of instantly going into Marble Man myth; I think the letters are the best way to get even close to who he was.
There is a biography that is well-thought of that is also on my list:Robert E. Lee, a Biography by Emory Thomas. I think it was written in 1995 and is an attempt to portray the human being, not just the leader on a horse on a pedestal. But I haven't read it.
I've become much more interested in Jefferson Davis, but again, have not read anything on him, although I do have two on my list. I'm always a little reserved about biographies of Great Leaders, being a near-total skeptic myself of the concept.
So--please do let me know what you think of the book, because I will be extremely interested.
And I should tell you--I immediately put Warlock on my completely impossible To Buy list as soon as I read your comments. I actually may get it some time this decade! I'm usually a pretty decisive person, but lately when I've gone to order books, I find myself overwhelmed with all the I-have-to-have-this-book-or-die titles on my list.
Clone, clone, where's the clone program--but with money, please! :-)
All is well here, as I hope it is with you and yours.
Later!
With regards,
Joyce
posted by Joycepa at 9:43 pm (EST) on Jun 3, 2008
I absolutely loved Beginner's Greek and recommend it to the max. If you can get through the first 2 pages without thinking it's the sappiest things you've ever read, then you'll find one of the best books of the year, absolutely terrific. And oh yes, that Nixonland was something else, and I've missed it too, wish I could read Perlstein's take on what happened to that shitbag Nixon and his criminal cohorts after 1972, when it really started to get hot for them. It's a consolation of sorts to remember that less than 20 months after Nixon's '72 landslide, he wasn't president of anything.
I had to bail on Tom Rob Smith's Child 44, a book almost painful to read it's so clumsily written, plus I discovered 2 obvious factual errors that were naggingly disconcerting, and was glad to toss it overboard after a hundred pages. Right now I'm about 80 pages into Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge and I'm really liking it so far, smartly engaging and gorgeously written too. All the luck, and hope you enjoy Dangerous Laughter as much as I did.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:11 am (EST) on May 29, 2008
It took me 11 days, but I finished Rick Perlstein's Nixonland yesterday and loved every bit of it, about as entertaining, and as hilarious at times, as history's gonna get, truly an astounding piece of work. And as a sidebar: This just has to be Colin Harrison's year. As you know I've read 2 absolutely great books by him lately, but I discovered that his day job is non-fiction editor at Scribner, and Perlstein credits him as the guiding force behind Nixonland, so Harrison's really making a mark this year.
Right now I'm a hundred pages into James Collins' romantic folly Beginner's Greek, which is definitely NOT the kind of novel I'm normally drawn to, but it's so guilelessly written and so unrelentingly charming, that it's been nothing short of irresistible so far. And what's so cool about it is that you can tell instantly whether you'll like it or not: after the first 2 pages you'll either want to puke or beg for more, but I bought-in to Collins' idea at once, and couldn't be more delighted with this wonderful book.
Envy Unlimited: You get to read Oakley Hall's Warlock for the 1st time and I don't. All the luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:02 am (EST) on May 23, 2008
I always enjoy your comments--thoughtful and well-written.
Joyce
posted by Joycepa at 10:18 am (EST) on May 16, 2008
I'm really curious to get your reaction on the Steven Millhauser book, since you'd mentioned that it was next on your reading list. As much as I've admired his novels, I'd always thought his short stories were too self-conscious and a bit distanced as well, but wow, I wasn't expecting the reaction I've had to Dangerous Laughter, just genius stuff as far as I'm concerned, and easily one of the best things I've found this year.
I'm just at the halfway point in Rick Perlstein's monumental Nixonland, and there hasn't been a dull page yet. Perlstein's book covers American politics between 1964 and 1972, but his style is gleefully sardonic, always a shade shy of over-the-top, making it about as entertaining as history can get. What's even more startling about the events that Perlstein portrays though, is how they eerily portend the same cultural and political fissures, the very same sense of divisiveness that we're being forced to deal with in the country today, or as Perlstein wisely sums up, "How does Nixonland end? It has not ended yet."
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:04 am (EST) on May 16, 2008
posted by RcCarol at 6:24 pm (EST) on May 12, 2008
posted by mmignano11 at 12:00 pm (EST) on May 11, 2008
"There are the deep pressures of being human, and those of us who are parents feel the forwardness of our flesh even as we know our own is failing. The rhythmic sything away of the previous generation forces our attention to our children, for if we do not have our children, then, knowing ourselves to be doomed, we do not have anything. People who don't have children often take violent exception to the idea that their lives are in any way existentially different from the lives of those who do have children, and to this I only laugh darkly to myself and think, Well yes, you may think that, but you are already dead, my friend. I am also already dead, yet live on in my son, who will have his son or daughter when I am dispersed with the fluorocarbons, part of the mist of ozone cooking the earth. Yes, I will yet live. And I think this is in all of us."
Thanks to your reminder I finally got a copy of the Steven Millhauser book, which I'd totally forgotten about, and have what looks like 2 good ones coming up: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, and Rick Perlstein's Nixonland, just a huge thing at 880 pages. All the luck, and sorry about the length again!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:34 am (EST) on May 8, 2008
You have a small library posted so far, but we have a lot of books in common. Are you a big fan of Joyce? I did my Master's Thesis on him.
-Jim
posted by rmckeown at 1:49 pm (EST) on May 5, 2008
"Early in his review of The Journey Home by Dermot Bolger, Terrence Rafferty notes that the novel was originally published in 1990, but he makes no mention of how the last 18 years might affect the reception of this book now that it's appearing for the first time in the United States, nor of the dated quality of the condition of its protagonists as a result of the broad economic and social changes that have transformed Ireland during the exact period in question.
Like Roddy Doyle (whose book The Commitments was published in 1987), Bolger is writing of an era when nearly a whole generation of Irish youth, privileged and disadvantaged alike, were forced to emigrate. Both writers presented a gritty urban Dublin underclass, and although the likes of Shay and Hano would not necessarily have been among those more likely to benefit from the largess of the Celtic Tiger that has developed since, their contemporary equivalents are not emigrating to work in factories in Germany or Turkey - instead, thousands of Poles, Turks, Brazilians and others are living in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland in the grim equivalent of the housing conditions Hano survived, while Jimmy Rabbitt's kids are meanwhile probably running dot-coms.
What is rather prescient about the University of Texas Press's decision to publish Bolger's excellent novel now is that the bubble has burst, and an Irish generation that has known nothing but boom times and affluence will be undergoing a period of considerable adjustment."
Christina Hunt Mahony
Washington
The new Tin House came yesterday, and over the last few years has become one of my very favorite things: a fat book of short stories, poems, essays and interviews, published 4x a year, and I always wind up reading it cover-to-cover. I don't recall you mentioning it before, and may subscribe already, but it's a great treat every time a new one arrives. The lead short story in this edition is by the great Ron Carlson, and I highly recommend his 2007 novel Five Skies if you've not read him before. All the luck!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:43 am (EST) on May 3, 2008
Their Eyes Were Watching God is the first NZH I have read and I'm enjoying it very much. My big discovery for the year has been Robertson Davies. Before even finishing Fifth Business I had ordered the remaining two books in the Deptford Trilogy. I saw Louis's message about James Meek and I add to that a thumbs-up for The People's Act of Love.
I've just had two weeks holiday which was blighted by family illness so I was pleased to have my students return yesterday and put my mind to something else.
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 10:10 pm (EST) on Apr 28, 2008
Speaking of Matthiessen, I saw you'd added Shadow Country to your list of good ones, so I'm assuming you've already finished it. I only just wound up Book I myself, but it's so great that I'll likely be adding it to mine before it's over, still have a ways to go in it right now. Coming up I've got James Howard Kunstler's World Made By Hand, along with Interpreter of Maladies, one I've been looking forward to for a while.
Can you believe O'Hagan's Be Near Me won the LA Times fiction award this weekend? The competition must have been damn thin out there this year. Luck and All!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:12 am (EST) on Apr 27, 2008
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:07 am (EST) on Apr 17, 2008
I did read Interpreter, but before it came out, so it was some time ago. I was blown away by it at the time so I was overjoyed when I heard about Unaccustomed Earth. I cannot compare the two because I read them so far apart and when I read Interpreter, Lahiri was new to me. I had the same reaction to both books. And I say you should read them, because I cannot believe that a writer of her level would have a collection not worth reading.
I have not read Namesake yet, but did see the movie and loved it.
posted by alphaorder at 11:30 am (EST) on Apr 14, 2008
I really liked Siri Hustvedt's The Sorrows of an American, one of those surprises that sorta sneaks up on you out of nowhere, a very smart book I think, and very reminiscent of Richard Powers. I'm almost done with Rudy Wurlitzer's The Drop Side of Yonder and have gotten more than a few laughs out of it, a speedy mock-western posing as a tongue-in-cheek picaresque, good loopy fun.
I see you've got a copy of Angle of Repose, a book I/ve always loved, and would re-read at the drop of a hat. I was telling Nancy about still having my original reviewer's copy of it, including all the lay-ins, and it's in terrific shape too, but I may get another copy, as she suggested, if I decide to re-read it. I don't have any idea what this beauty's worth, probably not a whole lot, but I sure don't want to have any dumb-ass accidents with it either at this late date. Good luck!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 10:56 am (EST) on Apr 14, 2008
posted by Medellia at 8:17 pm (EST) on Apr 13, 2008
I'm well past halfway in the Martin Amis memoir Experience and it's really beyond fantastic, and that's not hyperbole either, but for Amis to write so beautifully, and still be so brutally truthful, is really quite astonishing, especially since he's made his career with a string of fairly shitty novels, none of which I can honestly recommend except Time's Arrow. Of course he's obsessed with the literary life as you'd expect, dwelling on his father's writing and career, while fixating on all writers he reads or meets, but especially Nabokov and Bellow, both of whom I revere as much as MA does, so I feel I'm in fine company.
I've got a few cool things in the wings right now: James Meek's We Are Now Beginning Our Descent, Rudolph Wurlitzer's The Drop Edge of Yonder, which has been characterized as "Sam Beckett with a six-gun and a sack of rattlesnakes", and Siri Hustvedt's po-mo showpiece The Sorrows of an American. Good luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:36 pm (EST) on Apr 6, 2008
Hmmmm, I see your problem about finding the LTers With Dogs Group. I have just tried searching for it and was given a list of 80+ books, none of which were the slightest bit relevant. Tell you what I'll do - I think I can probably send you an invite to join Photos of our Dogs which, hopefully, will give a link to the right page. My darlin' lab is on posts 75 & 76 but I'm sure you'll love lost of the other dogs too. Off to try now - if you don't get anything soon you'll know I'm having problems!
posted by Booksloth at 12:10 pm (EST) on Apr 1, 2008
I think you're probably gonna like the Woiwode memoir. I've gone back to it several times asince I finished, and have managed to re-read half of it already. His style alone should get your attention, and you'll like that it's crammed with one literary reference after another, plus the details of his warm relationship with Maxwell, and his description of his first meeting with Jim Harrison(whom I love!), are truly priceless. Woiwode's 2 big books, What I'm Going To Do, I Think and particularly Beyond the Bedroom Wall, shouldn't be missed either, their appeal is timeless, but A Step From Death is really something else.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 12:00 pm (EST) on Mar 31, 2008
posted by Booksloth at 8:13 am (EST) on Mar 31, 2008
The Larry Woiwode memoir I mentioned before, A Step From Death, just totally blew me out of the ball park, easily one of the finest things I've read this year. Good luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 11:10 am (EST) on Mar 26, 2008
I finished Wallace Stegner's 1987 novel Crossing to Safety the other day and loved it, but wasn't so surprised because I'd just read his NBA-winning The Spectator Bird last year, and it sort of blew me away at the time. I plan on reading some of his earlier stuff and already have The Big Rock Candy Mountain and its sequel Recapitulation set for summer.
Right now I'm halfway through David Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America, an amazing slice of cultural history that's as hilarious as it is harrowing, and a book I'll likely be recommending for the rest of the year. And I'm amped to the max cause I just got my copy of Larry Woiwode's new memoir A Step From Death and am ultra-anxious to start it. Woiwode (pronounced "WHY-woody", or "Y-woody") wrote 2 of my all-time favorite novels, What I'm Going To Do, I Think and Beyond the Bedroom Wall, and this new memoir looks like it could be bliss on toast.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:30 am (EST) on Mar 20, 2008
Just dropped in to wish you a Happy St Patrick's Day 2008! As I suggested last year, don't drink too much green beer as some Irish-Australians do. Perhaps a nice pint of Guiness?
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 8:39 am (EST) on Mar 17, 2008
I also read and totally despised Tom Franklin's Smonk, a complete waste of time, and wish I hadn't even picked the repulsive thing up. Right now I'm halfway through David Mamet's book of essays Bambi vs. Godzilla, just a hoot and a half so far, and I'm also about a hundred pages into Richard Hofstadter's non-fiction Pulitzer winner Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, which first came out in 1964 and caused quite a stir. What's amazing is that I think it's perhaps even more relevant today than it was then, and I've been stunned several times by Hofstadter's insights into the active life of the mind and how it deals with the untiring scorners of intellect, whom we're forced to confront every day of our lives. Wow.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 3:16 pm (EST) on Mar 13, 2008
Well, I hafta tell you that I'm afraid that the debt is still mine! Thanks to your comments about Troubles, I bought the whole series. I'm too anal-retentive about reading things in order (you mean, read the middle one first? GASP--god, the world will end!), so I decided to go whole hog.
I thoroughly enjoyed Siege of Krishnapur and Troubles, which I thought was utterly enthralling. I'm now about 2/3 of the way through The Singapore Grip and concur with the general agreement that it's not the best one of the trilogy. But I am fascinated by the military history part of it, and since that's where I am right now, it's moving right along for me.
Normally I shun debt like the plague but I'm truly looking forward to being even more obliged to you for good book recommendations!
Joyce
posted by Joycepa at 1:44 pm (EST) on Mar 11, 2008
I tried to read Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, but bailed after 350 pages cause it was boring the piss out of me, but then halleluliah! and break out the Pulitzers, I started Richard Price's new book Lush Life, which is the absolute best thing I've read this year, and is by far the most astounding thing Price has ever written, and I've read all his novels too. When I finish I'm on to Tony Earley's The Blue Star, the sequel to his magnificent 2000 novel Jim the Boy and I can't wait on that one.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 4:50 pm (EST) on Mar 7, 2008
posted by laytonwoman3rd at 11:04 pm (EST) on Mar 1, 2008
Slaintè
posted by tiffin at 1:17 pm (EST) on Feb 28, 2008
February's been just a stellar reading month, one great book after another, which is what I always like best of course, but a month like Feb. is really quite thrilling finally. I just finished Mark Harris's brilliant and utterly original Pictures At A Revolution: Five Movies and The Birth of the New Hollywood, in which he tracks 5 movies from their initial-idea stage through their five-year journey to Oscar night in the spring of 1968, and Harris's book is as absorbing and as entertaining as anything I've read this year. Right now I'm really enjoying Anthony Arthur's 2006 biography Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair, and Sinclair's life is just boggling to me so far. I'd only read The Jungle last year, but I read Oil! last month and as heavy-handed as some of it was, I could barely put it down. My wife jokes that I've become an unapologetic socialist in my old age and we've laughed about that a lot lately.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:25 am (EST) on Feb 28, 2008
And yes, I'm a big Vollmann fan, but every review of it across-the-board was very negative. The big question asked by nearly all of them was, Why had WV even bothered to write this book?, as he's done both urban and rural hard-luck-stories much more perceptively in prior works. Good luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 10:30 am (EST) on Feb 19, 2008
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 4:13 pm (EST) on Feb 17, 2008
Anyway hope all is well with you, will be in touch sometime soon again. All the best, Jimmy
posted by jkavanagh at 5:46 pm (EST) on Feb 13, 2008
I've read a handful of good things lately, especially Pope Brock's wonderfully compelling Charlatan, plus Barker's Life Class, and Maugham's Mrs. Craddock, but right now I'm barely 50 pages into The Monsters of Templeton and liking it more than a little. Good luck!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 3:11 pm (EST) on Feb 12, 2008
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:49 am (EST) on Jan 24, 2008
That's a really great story, your daughter will love that note when she is older, it will be worth a fortune some day.
posted by jkavanagh at 12:44 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2008
Meant to ask, what did you get to say to Bill
posted by jkavanagh at 6:45 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2008
I love John McGahern,I think he was an absolutely amazing writer,I don't know anyone who could use simple language in such an effective manner, the man was a wizard. He didn't live that far from me as he was from County bLeitrim which is practically next door. I'm sorry I never made an effort to meet him. Which one have you signed?
posted by jkavanagh at 3:21 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2008
posted by jkavanagh at 3:11 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2008
I've spotted you a couple of times giving very sage advice on Irish books to some other friends of mine in here, so it's grand to make your acquaintance.
Well, while I'm here, I'll have a peek at what you have...
All the best, Carolyn
posted by citizenkelly at 1:29 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2008
"Looking for Jimmy" is actually very interesting with regard to the Irish-American relationship with the Democrats.
If the election turns out to be a battle about the economy, will that suit the Republicans?
Anyway as to the Barack Obama books, I first heard him speak one Saturday when I was in Galway at a niece's wedding, I went to the hotel room for a break after the meal and turned on SKY news and there he was, and I was really impressed with him. So when I went home on Monday I looked up Powells and Abebooks and bought signed copies of "Dreams from my Father" and "The Audacity of Hope". I got them both at very good prices,they are already well over double what I paid for them. I decided to cover myself anyway and also bought Hillary Clinton's "It takes a Village" and "Living History" both of those are also signed first editions. I always tell my wife about what good investments my books are, (I have many signed firsts)but in truth I don't ever intend parting with any of them. I think she knows that too.
Anyway back to the election,interesting to hear you say that Barack Obama is "iffy" on foreign policy, I would have thought he was quite clear about Iraq,but I have a feeling that he is going to be portrayed as "weak" on terrorism by the Republicans and probably even by Clinton, I think though that he has brought an interest and dynamic to the campaign that would not be there otherwise, especially for us outside observers,and he seems to have stirred young people which I think is great,it is very dificult to get young people to take an interest,that in itself is a great achievement, he reminds me a bit of Kennedy in that way. Could we end up with the first female President and the first coloured Vice-President? Obama would still be young enough next time around and obviously more experienced.
posted by jkavanagh at 6:32 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2008
I agree it's a very interesting time out there, and will be great over the next few months. I was watching last night on satellite (SKY) we had a really stormy night here, so the electricity went off in the middle of it, at that point the polls had Obama on 38% and Clinton on 30%, I couldn't believe it when I checked the teletext this morning and saw that Clinton had won it. Puts a completely different perspective on things now, and as you say Mrs. Clinton will probably have the greater financial resourses and will throw everything at it. I must say though that Obama is impressive, I love his speeches, but I suspect that you are right,after last night,looks like McCain and Clinton, but you can't be sure. don't know what your politics are but I hope that the Democrats have the next President. Don't think anywhere in the world wants another Republican Presidency.
I have a couple of signed first editions by both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Regards Jimmy
Take it easy and stay in touch.
posted by jkavanagh at 4:41 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2008
Our bookstore was out of Amongst Women - shame! - but I put one on order and look forward to reading it when it comes in.
I will also check out Looking for Jimmy!
All best,
alpha / Nancy
posted by alphaorder at 12:57 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2008
Also my husbands name, but his parents spelled it Shawn. Last name Quinn. We had a nice family trip - my family, not his, no Irish blood in us - to Ireland last year.
Anyway, I will be certain to pick up more McGahern. I work in a bookstore (have for 18 years), so it shouldn't be a problem.
Please do let me know what you think of Stoner. I hope I didn't steer you wrong. I just loved that book and wish I could read it again for the first time.
Best,
Alpha
posted by alphaorder at 6:51 pm (EST) on Jan 8, 2008
posted by jkavanagh at 6:27 pm (EST) on Jan 8, 2008
Found you by your post on what you are reading. So Creatures of the Earth is not avaiable in US, right? You made me want to run out and pick it up!
I looked at our simliar books and see that you too have Stoner. Have you read it yet? It was my favorite book I read last year, out of 50. Of course there were other close contenders...
Nice to meet you and your library!
alphaorder
posted by alphaorder at 9:01 am (EST) on Jan 8, 2008
Found you by your post on what you are reading. So Creatures of the Earth is not avaiable in US, right? You made me want to run out and pick it up!
I looked at our simliar books and see that you too have Stoner. Have you read it yet? It was my favorite book I read last year, out of 50. Of course there were other close contenders...
Nice to meet you and your library!
alphaorder
posted by alphaorder at 9:01 am (EST) on Jan 8, 2008
Just noticed you have "Looking for Jimmy" in your library. I am adding you to my friends list, I hope you don't mind.
posted by jkavanagh at 3:58 pm (EST) on Jan 7, 2008
I'm afraid I have to plead ignorance here, I have read none of her stories, but thanks a lot for the tip, I will check her out tomorrow and try and find the collected edition which you are reading. Thanks again for bringing her to my attention, a bit of good advise is always welcome and appreciated. By the way I am reading a book at the moment by Peter Quinn called "Looking for Jimmy" published by the Overlook Press last year (2007). It's a "history" of Irish America or as he describes it as a "search for Irish America". Since the book is published in America you are probably aware of it, but if not I would recommend it, I am finding it fascinating. Happpy reading and every good wish to you and yours for 2008, and keep in touch. Jimmy.
posted by jkavanagh at 3:50 pm (EST) on Jan 7, 2008
posted by TheresaWilliams at 10:18 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2008
Recently read a very good review of That Neutral Island: A Cultural History of Ireland by Clare Wills (Harvard University Press). Sounds interesting.
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 8:47 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2007
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 1:44 am (EST) on Dec 24, 2007
posted by liamfoley at 2:41 pm (EST) on Dec 16, 2007
Right now I'm about 200 pages into Eca de Queiros' The Maias, simply a sparkling new translation, and though it's a bit languid at times, there's quite a lot of life in it for a book first pubbed in 1888, first-rate stuff so far. There's not a lot of new fiction on the horizon, but I do have an ARC of Charles Baxter's new book The Soul Thief which looks great, and I just got the Everyman's Library edition of Martin Chuzzlewit, which I bought because Noel Coward praised it so highly in his Letters.
Hope you and your family stay healthy, wealthy, and enjoy the best holiday ever. Both my errant sons in Colorado will make it home for Christmas, so my wife and I, with all my 6 children, plan on partying like it's 1999. Felize Navidad!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:03 am (EST) on Dec 14, 2007
I studied for a year in State College, PA, but I confess I didn't get to know Appalachia or Pittsburgh well.
posted by Grammath at 6:57 am (EST) on Dec 12, 2007
posted by jkavanagh at 1:02 pm (EST) on Dec 11, 2007
posted by jkavanagh at 1:02 pm (EST) on Dec 11, 2007
posted by jkavanagh at 12:58 pm (EST) on Dec 11, 2007
posted by Hagelstein at 7:42 pm (EST) on Dec 10, 2007
Hope all is well with you. I have just started The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald and the prose is beautiful. HAve you read it?
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 7:52 am (EST) on Dec 7, 2007
I confess I only read about 300 pages of the Tennessee Williams' Notebooks, but I detested the book's layout, with its pages and pages of tiny-print footnotes, and found it a bloody chore to get as far as I did in it. More deploringly, I found I had developed a profound dislike for Williams himself, with his whining petulance and self pity, so I've since banished Notebooks to my "Bad Books" shelf.
I'm enjoying the Coward letters immensely, but I'm glad I read Alex von Tunzelmann's Indian Summer earlier this year or I wouldn't have had a clue about Coward's relationship with Lord Louis Mountbatten, and particularly his unbelieveably marvelous wife Edwina, who's the real heroine of Indian Summer, the centerpiece of which is Edwina's long and passionate liasion with Jawaharlal Nehru. It also went into some detail on Mountbatten and Coward's collaboration on Coward's famous war film In Which We Serve, and it's fascinating stuff all around. In the meantime I'm wallowing in Coward's correspondence and will hate for it to end.
Have you seen the NYTBR's "10 Best Books of 2007" list yet?? I've read all 5 of the fiction titles and 2 of the non-fiction, and think it an excellent bunch overall. And of course the list includes Tree of Smoke, but also Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detectives, probably the most purely exciting thing I've read all year. I've since read all of Bolano's work available in English, and a new one (Nazi Literature in the Americas) is due in late February. He's surely become the most prolific dead writers of the new century and I can't wait for Nazi Lit. Happy trails!
Louis
PS - As a fellow Johnny Cash fan I must alert you to "The Best of The Johnny Cash TV Show 1969-1971", a sparkling DVD that includes performances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, E. Clapton, Ray Charles and many others, plus JC never looked or sang any better. I've already bought 2 more for Christmas gifts and you've just gotta see it if you haven't already.
posted by LouisBranning at 6:05 am (EST) on Nov 29, 2007
posted by mkunruh at 2:04 pm (EST) on Nov 20, 2007
I suspect I know you from another forum - your tastes and writing style are distinct! The last post, of course, confirms this.
Lovely to see you here.
Miriam
posted by mkunruh at 8:58 am (EST) on Nov 20, 2007
Right now I'm slamming my way through Ben MacIntyre's Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal, just an unbelieveable story that's only come to light since MI5 declassified the Zigzag files in 2001. MacIntyre's book is one big "wow", breathlessly presented, and tells a jaw-dropping story of WWII, highly recommended of course. I don't have much new fiction on the horizon between now and year's end, but I've had such phenomenal luck with non-fiction lately that I'll probably continue with it. Next up is Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s Journals: 1952 - 2000, and then I'll probably finish up the Paris Review Interviews 2. Have you read the Faulkner interview yet? It's the only one I've read so far, but it sort of blew me away. Happy trails!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:51 am (EST) on Nov 16, 2007
Michael
posted by michaelbartley at 1:08 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2007
I finished Australian writer Peter Temple's The Broken Shore, and despite the wonderful reviews it's amassed, I just didn't care for it much. I found the Aussie slang distracting throughout, and thought it all pretty ho-hum stuff. Right now I'm several hundred pages into Ken Follett's World Without End and find myself moderately bored with it so far, but there is sort of an accelerating momentum to it and I'll probably cruise through to the end. The writing's merely pedestrian, pitched at about a 7th-grade level I'd guess, but Follett is truly a gifted storyteller at times, and some of his audacious plot turns can be very entertaining. Good luck!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:53 am (EST) on Oct 30, 2007
Last night I finished Tim Jeal's Stanley which will, without any doubt, be one of my favorite books of the year. Besides being beautifully written, it's a blazing page-turner crammed with impossible adventures, a tragic, melancholy hero who routinely displays jaw-dropping fortitude and bravery, and Jeal's first-ever access to the Stanley Archive has yielded what I think is just a magnificent example of the biographer's art, a superb book in every way.
Even though I've only read 10 pages of Tom Perrotta's new novel The Abstinence Teacher, I can tell it's gonna be a lot of fun. I'd loved both Election and Little Children, and have really been looking forward to this one. Happy trails!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:00 am (EST) on Oct 19, 2007
I just finished the Best of 2007 anthology yesterday, loved some of them (the John Barth and Richard Russo stories), some were stinkers (Kate Walbert), but overall the majority were quite good and most entertaining all the way. I've just gotten started on Tim Jeal's massive Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer, which has already run through its 1st printing, with the 2nd not due till mid-November. For a book with a hefty $38 retail, and one you might assume to have a limited appeal, that's pretty amazing. Happy trails!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 4:01 am (EST) on Oct 12, 2007
Over the weekend I finally finished Dumas' The Last Cavalier, and even though Dumas died before he could properly conclude it, I was fairly enthralled with it all the way through its 750 pages. Of course Dumas was a complete plot-freak, and his hero was just a bit too perfectly heroic for belief(the titular Last Cavalier), but his grasp of French history, particularly pre- and post-Revolution, and especially his insightfully realistic portrayal of Napoleon and his family, made it easily as memorable as the best of his other work.
I'd loved Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke so much that I finally picked up his book Jesus' Son and finished it in one sitting. There really wasn't that much to it, a series short, inter-related stories about hopeless junkies and other random low-life, only about 160 pages long and I sort of gulped it. I guess I liked it, but it's one of those I'd hesitate to recommend, definitely not for everyone. It reminded me somewhat of John Fante's novel Ask the Dust, which I sincerely do recommend, a terrific slice of the literary low-life that's become a minor classic.
Like minds etc., but I'm almost finished with The Best American Short Stories of 2007 as well. I've got about 4 stories left, have greatly enjoyed most of them, but my favorite so far is Barth's "Toga Party", absolutely the most hilarious single thing I've read this year. I've got 2 monsters coming up: Tim Jeal's much-anticipated Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer, and then Ken Follet's World Without End, his 1000-page sequel to Pillars of the Earth, which, if you haven't read it yet, is one of my favorite pop novels of the last 30 years. All the luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 6:21 am (EST) on Oct 9, 2007
Right now I'm nearly 300 pages into Alexandre Dumas' mammoth The Last Cavalier and enjoying it quite a bit. A Dumas Scholar discovered the lost manuscript about 15 years ago, which was collected from various sources, edited, and finally published in France in 2005, becoming a surprise bestseller there too. This is the first US translation of it, and it's easily as swashbuckling, and as compulsively readable as either The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers, just great fun stuff.
In the last year I've read a couple of really exceptional post-apocalyptic novels (The Road, Matt Sharpe's Jamestown), one very lousy one (Crace's The Pesthouse), but I just finished David Lozell Martin's Our American King the other day and thought it was pure dynamite, and, in its own eccentric, though quite riveting approach, ranks with the very best of its kind. I loved it.
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:05 am (EST) on Sep 30, 2007
JC wrote in 1977: "I saw him in the movies when I was five years old, and haven't stopped loving him and his kind of movieland dreams. More than that, I took part of Gene Autry home with me in my heart and sang it out in the cotton fields, songs like "Be Honest With Me", and "The Last Roundup". It's no surprise that JC's first real guitar was a Gene Autry "Round-Up" Guitar, a $9.75 special from the Sears Roebuck catalogue (also Willie Nelson's and George Jones' first one too), and Sears sold hundreds of licensed Gene Autry products over a 30-year period.
But Autry and Cash became friends after JC got famous in the late 50s and they stayed in touch. In 1965 when JC was arrested in El Paso for illegally transporting amphetamines across the border, he called Gene first. With his myriad political connections in Texas, Gene knew who to contact and Cash merely paid a modest fine. The following year, the Man in Black wrote Gene, "It's a hell of a long time to wait to thank you for the letter to El Paso for me...your letter was the #1 most important in getting me out of the trouble there, and I will always be grateful to you for going to such trouble for me." I loved JC, saw him perform in-person twice during the 70s, and he was finally just like his first hero Gene Autry, the rarest one-of-a-kind.
Oh, and I absolutely loved Peter Guralnick's Dream Boogie that you mentioned, and if you've not read his Elvis' books yet, what a treat you've got coming your way. All the luck!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 2:05 pm (EST) on Sep 24, 2007
Tree of Smoke was the best new novel I/ve read this whole year. I was in Vietnam myself from Oct.67 to Sept.68, right when much of the action in the book transpires, and Johnson's chilling description of the Tet offensive is just as real it gets. It's just a superb book though, and think it should win every prize hands down. I mostly enjoyed Amy Bloom's Away, though I found it rather 'thin' overall, but I absolutely hated An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, which I thought tiresomely whimsical and unfunny in the extreme.
Right now I'm slogging through to the end of David Peace's Tokyo Year Zero, another over-hyped piece of crap which has been disappointing to say the least. On a brighter front, I'm forced to wholeheartedly recommend Alex von Tunzelmann's tour-de-force Indian Summer, an eye-opening "secret" history of the actual last days of the British Raj in India, really a thrilling narrative history with an amazingly human side to it as well. Up next is David Lozell Martin's Our American King, which looks great, then I'm on to Dumas' The Last Cavalier, and Tom Perrotta's The Abstinence Teacher after that. Happy Trails!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 5:56 am (EST) on Sep 24, 2007
posted by AnneBoleyn at 5:28 am (EST) on Sep 16, 2007
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle,
And the merry love to dance.... - William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
posted by AnneBoleyn at 12:16 pm (EST) on Sep 15, 2007
posted by NativeRoses at 10:33 am (EST) on Sep 12, 2007
You're probably aware that I'm not a big thriller/fantasy fan, but Michael Marshall's The Intruders is the real deal, nearly impossible to put down and breathlessly entertaining too. Right now I'm nearly halfway through Denis Johnson's doorstop Tree of Smoke and Johnson keeps blowing me away in chapter after chapter, and this could be one of the very best novels of the year. Good luck!!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 12:59 pm (EST) on Sep 10, 2007
posted by Esta1923 at 2:49 pm (EST) on Sep 2, 2007
Just lately I've read a string of terrific memoirs too, including the tragic House of Happy Endings by Leslie Garis, Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander, and Lucette Lagnado's The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, all just great stuff. I'll have to admit that I was mildly disappointed in Andrew O'Hagan's Be Near Me. Though his writing was lovely throughout, I never really understood the motivation for his central character's self-destructive tendencies, and could never really empathize with him through all his travails. And despite its gonzo weirdness, I absolutely loved Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein, as hilarious an assault on noir tropes as you'll ever read, and it's especially recommended.
After finishing Augustus, I'm on to Amy Bloom's Away which looks very promising, and then to Holly George-Warren's Public Cowboy #1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry, just a gorgeous book and one I've been looking forward to all year. Good luck!
Louis
posted by LouisBranning at 7:00 am (EST) on Aug 21, 2007
I also misspelled George Hagen's name yesterday, and of all the great new books I've read this year, his Tom Bedlam is my absolute favorite. There's a rave of it by Terrence Rafferty in last weekend's NYTBR too.
I'm nearly a hundred pages into House of Happy Endings, Leslie Garis's family memoir which I'm quite liking so far. Her grandfather wrote Uncle Wiggily, her grandmother wrote The Bobbsey Twins - and between them Tom Swift and hundreds of other chiildren's stories - but their lives were ill-fated and ultimately quite tragic. After that I'm on to Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein which looks delicious and possibly sinful. Good luck!
Louis
P.S. - And good luck with Suttree, an all-time favorite of mine.
posted by LouisBranning at 10:40 am (EST) on Aug 8, 2007
Flattered to be added to your interesting library collection.
I was very interested in your Irish reads - I think the Irish have some very talented writers, innovative as well.
I have not read Annie Dunne, so excited to hear of another title by the incomparable Barry. I really thought his writing was superb.
Also love Trevor, Toibin and McGahern. Find Roddy Doyle a little less appealing - although undoubtedly he has great talent - just don't get the 'want to finish in one sitting' feeling with him.
Nice to make contact - it is good to have a different style of library to contemplate.
Cheers, Karen
posted by kiwidoc at 12:16 pm (EST) on Jul 30, 2007
After looking at your page and your readings I just had to add you to my 'interesting libraries'. Hope this is OK. Your book collection looks awesome.
Karen
posted by kiwidoc at 12:36 pm (EST) on Jul 27, 2007
Me again. David Malouf is a very good writer. Try any of his books and if you like that one, read more.
Tim Winton's most loved book is Cloudstreet and it is very good. My personal favourite is The Riders. I don't recommend Dirt Music - I don't think you would like it.
Peter Carey has written some good novels. I like, in particulr, Oscar and Lucinda. Also True History of the Kelly Gang is very enjoyable and has an Irish angle which you might like. Look up Ned Kelly on Wikepedia.
A very fine writer is Christopher Koch and I recommend all of his novels.
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 9:07 am (EST) on Jul 26, 2007
Delighted to hear from you again, Hope you are in good health. I'll just write a quick note here and get back to you later. I know that you like exemplary writing so you will like everything that Patrick White wrote. Try Voss or Riders in the Chariot.
More later.
Amanda XX
posted by amandameale at 10:34 pm (EST) on Jul 24, 2007
posted by liamfoley at 1:19 pm (EST) on Jun 14, 2007
posted by liamfoley at 9:33 am (EST) on Jun 6, 2007
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 8:15 am (EST) on May 19, 2007
posted by liamfoley at 2:37 pm (EST) on Apr 2, 2007
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 9:14 am (EST) on Mar 16, 2007
posted by liamfoley at 10:07 pm (EST) on Feb 20, 2007
posted by liamfoley at 8:30 am (EST) on Feb 20, 2007
posted by oregonobsessionz at 2:20 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2007
Just finished The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle. I think you said that you had read this? What a book! Marvellous. And you can hear the Dublin accents in the dialogue.
Had a peek at Louis's message. I like The Information very much. After that I think Amis had a few bad reviews and I haven't read another.
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 8:07 am (EST) on Feb 13, 2007
posted by LouisBranning at 3:05 pm (EST) on Jan 16, 2007
i am from the Czech Republic and i am translating a story Visiting Takabuti from Matters of Life and Death by MacLaverty, and i have a problem with it, do you think you could help me? The thing is, that i think there are some mistakes in the transcript i have been provided, because neither me, neither my American friend know or understand a couple of phrases from there. Thats why we suppose there are some spelling mistakes or such... Unfortunatelly i have no chance to reach the original, or at least not within the time i am supposed to hand in the transaltion. I searched the internet for some online version but of course the book is too new to be here, but i found this server, and when i saw your comment on Visting Takabuti i decided to ask you for help. Please, could you let me know on e.noova@yahoo.com whether you would be able to check a few places for me in the original? Perhaps you still ve got the book at home or so... thanks a lot, best regards, Estella
posted by estella at 5:35 am (EST) on Jan 12, 2007
i am from the Czech Republic and i am translating a story Visiting Takabuti from Matters of Life and Death by MacLaverty, and i have a problem with it, do you think you could help me? The thing is, that i think there are some mistakes in the transcript i have been provided, because neither me, neither my American friend know or understand a couple of phrases from there. Thats why we suppose there are some spelling mistakes or such... Unfortunatelly i have no chance to reach the original, or at least not within the time i am supposed to hand in the transaltion. I searched the internet for some online version but of course the book is too new to be here, but i found this server, and when i saw your comment on Visting Takabuti i decided to ask you for help. Please, could you let me know on e.noova@yahoo.com whether you would be able to check a few places for me in the original? Perhaps you still ve got the book at home or so... thanks a lot, best regards, Estella
posted by estella at 5:30 am (EST) on Jan 12, 2007
posted by amandameale at 6:40 am (EST) on Jan 8, 2007
1. My mother-in-law is from County Kerry (next-door to you?) but has been in Australia for over thirty years now. Over the years she made many trips back home to Ballybunion but since her remaining sister died she hasn't been back. Her name was Costelloe. She still has the accent, of course, and is very lovely.
2. I have a copy of The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton and would value your opinion. I'm not sure whether to read it.
3.Australian literature: anything by Patrick White; anything by Christopher Koch; Cloudstreet by Tim Winton; The White Earth by Andrew McGahan; True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey; The Secret River by Kate Grenville, and many more. I admire very much Koch and White (our only Nobel Literature laureate).
posted by amandameale at 7:32 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2007
posted by LouisBranning at 6:43 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2007
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 7:36 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2007
Most of the books we share are by Irish writers. Are you Irish or American by birth?
1. I'm still confused about Oh PLay That Thing. I wonder if Doyle had invented a new character would it have worked a little better. It was a big jump from A Star Called Henry to the sequel - the two Henrys were almost two different people. Miss O'Shea's appearance in the middle of the book seemed CRAZY so there was definitely a problem of continuity and/or structure. In fact, I think the structure of Oh Play was its downfall. If you take the various sections of the book on their own, for example, the Louis Armstrong section, I think the writing is good and the story works. Likewise if you take the last section of the book (on the trains etc.) it is well written and it works. But when you throw all of the elements together it is a dog's breakfast. My reaction was ambivalent. While reading the end section I was asking myself what the hell was this tacked on for, and at the same time admiring the writing and the content. I was glad I read it.
2. Yes, I loved The Master by Colm Toibin - what an exquisite piece of writing. I have read some of Mothers and Sons as well - very good.
3. I have in my pile That They May Face the Rising Sun by John McGahern - looking forward to it.
4. Read The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor this year - very good.
5. Also in my pile is another Doyle - The Woman Who Walked into Doors which I read about when Paula Spencer was published.
I hope you don't mind reading all this. I sure am enjoying telling you. Happy to receive recommendations from you at any time.
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 7:32 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2007
I was just reading your comments on the McLaverty book which on my must buy list.
Was interested in your earlier comments about Oh Play That Thing by Roddy Doyle. I read it and was constantly asking myself whether I liked it or not. Was there a problem with the structure? I was asking myself the same question when I finished it but decided that it had some merit. I'd love to know why you hated it.
Amanda
posted by amandameale at 2:09 am (EST) on Jan 5, 2007
posted by LouisBranning at 7:43 am (EST) on Dec 13, 2006
posted by LouisBranning at 2:57 pm (EST) on Dec 12, 2006
posted by LouisBranning at 11:46 am (EST) on Dec 2, 2006
I do think you'll love Fowles' The Journals, Volume II though, one of my year's favorites.
posted by LouisBranning at 9:03 am (EST) on Dec 2, 2006
I haven't yet tried any Maeve Brennan, but I'm looking forward to the one on my shelf. I'm something of a sucker for short stories anyway, so I'm sure I'll take your recommendation!
All the best
Rob
posted by shearrob at 10:56 pm (EST) on Nov 28, 2006
Good to know Denise Mina's latest book is worth reading. I read some positive reviews about her several years back then stumbled across her first three books (I think) in the bargain fiction section of a Barnes & Noble. I snapped them all up, but just haven't made the time to read any of them. Unfortunately, my book buying pace far exceeds my book reading speed (which has really ground to a halt since I discovered the double-edged sword that is LibraryThing), so I'm still trying to get around to reading the unread books I've owned longer than Mina's. Maybe I'll get to her in 2007 if I can ever shut my computer down.
posted by bookstothesky at 2:54 am (EST) on Nov 11, 2006
You don't know me from a hole in the wall, but I'd just like to chime in and second LouisBranning's McKinty recommendations. I've read Dead I Well May Be and Hidden River, and enjoyed them both, especially the former. I like McKinty enough that I went so far as to e-mail his publisher to express my support and to request that a bit more effort/money be put into the design of his next book cover (The Dead Yard's cover quite disappointed me in comparison to the previous two, although I'm not that enthused by Hidden River's either). Anyway, do read them, I don't think you'll regret it.
posted by bookstothesky at 4:54 am (EST) on Nov 10, 2006
Louis Branning
posted by LouisBranning at 6:24 am (EST) on Nov 7, 2006