novella nudge

Over on Club Read, we're reading novellas in March. I've found a few slim volumes from my shelves which seem to fit the bill... but which one(s) should I go for?



Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Fup by Jim Dodge
Ecstasy by Louis Couperus
A State Of Independence by Caryl Phillips
Rituals by Cees Nooteboom
The School Of War by Alexandre Najjar
The Country Of The Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
Equal Danger by Leonardo Sciascia
The Master Of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
The Assumption Of The Rogues And Rascals by Elizabeth Smart
A Month In The Country by JL Carr
The Last Summer Of Reason by Tahar Djaout

Aaargh. I have a photo and am trying to upload it. It's just taking several goes to figure out how!

ETA: Aah, finally...

I'd like to be able to nudge a book but haven't read any of these. I've just mooched a copy of The Country of the Pointed Firs so I'll give that a nudgette.

...and it's extra-skinny, even for a novella, so I should be able to fit it in ;-)

I love A Month in the Country, but I think I'd consider it a novel, not a novella.

Rituals, by Cees Nooteboom is a good read. It's about three loosely-connected men (family, friends) who lack a goal in life. Much of their attempt at making sense of things is expressed by the little patterns & rituals they engage in. A warning, though: some people I know have found this book depressing.

Couperus' Ecstasy is late 19thC novella about a couple going through an intricately platonic affair. A bit slow, but gently written, with touches of mysticism. Part of the focus is social constraints on women.

I'd suggest The Master of Go, but I hope you've read Kawabata earlier, 'cos it might not be the best Kawabata to start with!
Do let us know what you finally pick up!
:)

I haven't read any other Kawabata - why do you say it's not the best one to start with?

Rituals sounds interesting - I think I'll start out with that one.

Thanks!

So far, I've read A State Of Independence, which was interesting but a little slight, and The School Of War, which turns out to be a sort of memoir in very short episodes, rather than a novella.