Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

«‹›680 »

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Wasn't a novel I guess

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/440417.Genie?ac=1

# ? Sep 14, 2015 22:26

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 16, 2024 20:11

Earwicker: Jan 6, 2003

I am starting to become maybe infatuated with Leonardo Sciascia. I read a crime novel by him a couple years ago, The Day of the Owl, and it was pretty good, though I felt something was maybe lost in translation.

But more recently I read his novel To Each His Own, a collection of his short stories (The Wine Dark Sea), and now I'm reading Open Doors which is a novella that is both a meditation on fascism as well as on the death penalty, and all of these are just incredibly good. Looking forward to reading The Moro Affair next, which is not fictional at all but is his more journalistic account of the assassination of Aldo Moro.

Aside from Sciascia the only other Sicilian writer I have read is Giuseppe di Lampedusa who is also incredibly good (but did not write very much). I would love some other recommendations of Sicilian lit if you guys have any, especially more recent authors.

# ? Sep 14, 2015 23:29

Wraith of J.O.I.: Jan 25, 2012

This review of My Struggle Book 5 (which appears to cover contents of Book 6?) has me craving the end to this series, especially because of the void I feel having just finished Ferrante's Neapolitan series. The essay on Hitler, which I've only previously heard rumblings of, sounds so fascinating.

# ? Sep 15, 2015 03:35

toanoradian: May 31, 2011; The happiest waffligator

Smoking Crow posted:

I thought it was A Child Called It but that's a different book about terrible people

I read a Child Called It during my middle-school class and finished it in a few days. I remember liking it but I can't remember anything besides the general sensation of hopelessness and the It laughing (inside?) as he is forcefed soap (or oil?).

I can't remember anything from the next two books.

# ? Sep 15, 2015 09:46

thehomemaster: Jul 16, 2014; by Ralp

Bought Submission today.

Keen as hell.

Also tried to buy p book of My Brilliant Friend but no luck. Would like both that series and My Struggle in p.

# ? Sep 15, 2015 09:52

Lunchmeat Larry: Nov 3, 2012

toanoradian posted:

I read a Child Called It during my middle-school class and finished it in a few days. I remember liking it but I can't remember anything besides the general sensation of hopelessness and the It laughing (inside?) as he is forcefed soap (or oil?).

I can't remember anything from the next two books.

If it helps it's almost certainly all made up

# ? Sep 15, 2015 11:53

Safety Biscuits: Oct 21, 2010

Smoking Crow posted:

I thought it was A Child Called It but that's a different book by a terrible person

# ? Sep 15, 2015 15:05

Jrbg: May 20, 2014

Earwicker posted:

I am starting to become maybe infatuated with Leonardo Sciascia. I read a crime novel by him a couple years ago, The Day of the Owl, and it was pretty good, though I felt something was maybe lost in translation.

But more recently I read his novel To Each His Own, a collection of his short stories (The Wine Dark Sea), and now I'm reading Open Doors which is a novella that is both a meditation on fascism as well as on the death penalty, and all of these are just incredibly good. Looking forward to reading The Moro Affair next, which is not fictional at all but is his more journalistic account of the assassination of Aldo Moro.

Aside from Sciascia the only other Sicilian writer I have read is Giuseppe di Lampedusa who is also incredibly good (but did not write very much). I would love some other recommendations of Sicilian lit if you guys have any, especially more recent authors.

The ultimate is probably I Malavoglia, (The House by the Medlar Tree) by Giovanni Verga. Really wonderful descriptions of Sicilian fishing village life in the 19th century, if rather grim. Might be for you if you like Emile Zola. It was turned into a neorealist film by Luchino Visconti, who also did The Leopard.

# ? Sep 15, 2015 15:32

novamute: Jul 5, 2006; o o o

Holy crap I just started Growth of the Soil and I'm way hooked already.

# ? Sep 15, 2015 22:50

Popular Human: Jul 17, 2005; and if it's a lie, terrorists made me say it

thehomemaster posted:

Bought Submission today.

Keen as hell.

Also tried to buy p book of My Brilliant Friend but no luck. Would like both that series and My Struggle in p.

I started My Brilliant Friend and its really, really good. I want Submission but it doesn't come out for another loving month here.

# ? Sep 16, 2015 00:50

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

novamute posted:

Holy crap I just started Growth of the Soil and I'm way hooked already.

read Wayfarers next

# ? Sep 16, 2015 18:10

Mira: Nov 29, 2009; Max illegality.

What would be the point otherwise?

Ah bummer, I was going to resurrect the Nobel Prize thread but it got archived.

Who are goons rooting for, if they even care. Has to be another European, right?

# ? Sep 20, 2015 02:54

Grizzled Patriarch: Mar 27, 2014; These dentures won't stop me from tearing out jugulars in Thunderdome.

Mira posted:

Ah bummer, I was going to resurrect the Nobel Prize thread but it got archived.

Who are goons rooting for, if they even care. Has to be another European, right?

I'm going to bet that Murakami doesn't get it once again, despite being a "front-runner" like 3 times. My money would be on Ngugi wa Thiong'o, though I'd really like McCarthy to pick it up even though it would be kind of a "Old Man and the Sea" situation where the books he really deserves it for are 30+ years old.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 03:06

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

# ? Sep 20, 2015 14:02

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

George Eliot is cool.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 15:30

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

ulvir posted:

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

Joanna Russ

# ? Sep 20, 2015 15:49

Reivax: Apr 24, 2008

ulvir posted:

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

Clarice Lispector

# ? Sep 20, 2015 15:53

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Grizzled Patriarch posted:

I'm going to bet that Murakami doesn't get it once again, despite being a "front-runner" like 3 times. My money would be on Ngugi wa Thiong'o, though I'd really like McCarthy to pick it up even though it would be kind of a "Old Man and the Sea" situation where the books he really deserves it for are 30+ years old.

Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's masterpiece though

# ? Sep 20, 2015 18:51

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

ulvir posted:

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Louise Erdrich
Donna Tartt
Ann Patchett
Marilynne Robinson

# ? Sep 20, 2015 18:55

Grimson: Dec 16, 2004

Reivax posted:

Clarice Lispector

Lispector's the best "writer I randomly decided to try out" lately. The Hour of the Star and The Apple in the Dark are both excellent (in very different ways). Also read The Passion According to G.H. but I thought that one was fairly overrated (though that could very easily be due, at least in part, to reading it in translation without much context for its place in Brazilian lit).

The Apple in the Dark also has what's, to me, the funniest passage I've encountered this year--

quote:

"Music is spirit itself," the professor said with great assurance.

"I," the son suddenly said--"I like opera. As far as I'm concerned, that's the best there is."

The professor flushed and looked down at the floor.

"I've explained to you already," he said in a very low and soft voice, "that you're wrong."

"Opera's what counts," the boy repeated with courageous obstinacy; his face was pale and ugly.

"You're wrong!" the professor exploded. "I've already told you that you're wrong!" The professor shouted, his eyes closed with tolerance and rage. "I've already told you that nowadays opera is considered second-rate music! You're the only one who won't pay any attention! I explained it to you already!"

"Maybe," the boy said with painful pride--"but as far as I'm concerned, opera is the thing."

The professor looked at him with bulging eyes. The vein in his neck was throbbing. The boy lost his strength then; he lowered his head and went back to biting his fingernails.

"The professor is very high-strung," V�toria said simply, for Martim's benefit.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 19:24

Smoking Crow: Feb 14, 2012; *laughs at u*

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's masterpiece though

Nyet

# ? Sep 20, 2015 19:31

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

Mr. Squishy posted:

George Eliot is cool.

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Louise Erdrich
Donna Tartt
Ann Patchett
Marilynne Robinson

thanks, I'll check'em out.

Alhazred posted:

Joanna Russ

I'm a bit biased against genre fiction, but if you've a specific recommendation I'll give her a shot at some point.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 19:38

corn in the bible: Jun 5, 2004; Oh no oh god it's all true!

You could always read Anne Bronte.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 19:40

Sir John Feelgood: Nov 18, 2009

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's masterpiece though

Do you really think so?

# ? Sep 20, 2015 20:04

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Sir John Feelgood posted:

Do you really think so?

Of course. Its the complete embodiment of his lifetime goal of creating literature that evoked complex human emotion in sparse and effective language and found honor in the futility of men struggling against the cruelty of the world around them.

I would say the only reason it gets a bad rep is because people had to read it in High School. It is absolutely his best book. Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls are excellent but I would hold up Old Man and the Sea as the closest there has ever been to a perfectly written novel in the English language.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 20:43

thehomemaster: Jul 16, 2014; by Ralp

Is it really such a problem if your reading list is male-centric?

# ? Sep 20, 2015 20:51

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

thehomemaster posted:

Is it really such a problem if your reading list is male-centric?

It is if you want to have any reasonable depth or complete perspective of the world around you

# ? Sep 20, 2015 21:04

corn in the bible: Jun 5, 2004; Oh no oh god it's all true!

Seriously, Anne Bronte was cool, the Tenant of Wildfell Hall is cool.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 21:13

Wraith of J.O.I.: Jan 25, 2012

ulvir posted:

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

Elena Ferrante!

# ? Sep 20, 2015 22:25

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

thehomemaster posted:

Is it really such a problem if your reading list is male-centric?

What mudkiper said. there's a reason Stravinsky added two challenges to read a female author and a non-white author in the reading challenge thread.

and also is it really such a problem if I want to read more female authors than I have?

corn in the bible posted:

Seriously, Anne Bronte was cool, the Tenant of Wildfell Hall is cool.

I'll make a note of it.

Wraith of J.O.I. posted:

Elena Ferrante!

It looks like she's mostly writing serialised fiction? unless I'm mistaken. any specific book you recommend?

ulvir fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Sep 20, 2015

# ? Sep 20, 2015 22:40

thehoodie: Feb 8, 2011; "Eat something made with love and joy - and be forgiven"

ulvir posted:

It looks like she's mostly writing serialised fiction? unless I'm mistaken. any specific book you recommend?

Read the Neapolitan series, which starts with "My Brilliant Friend." Absolutely fantastic in every way.

Where do you get the impression she's writing serialised fiction? Unless it's from the intentionally pulpy covers of all of her books.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 23:27

Sir John Feelgood: Nov 18, 2009

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Of course. Its the complete embodiment of his lifetime goal of creating literature that evoked complex human emotion in sparse and effective language and found honor in the futility of men struggling against the cruelty of the world around them.

I would say the only reason it gets a bad rep is because people had to read it in High School. It is absolutely his best book. Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls are excellent but I would hold up Old Man and the Sea as the closest there has ever been to a perfectly written novel in the English language.

I thought it was pretty weak.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 23:27

Wraith of J.O.I.: Jan 25, 2012

ulvir posted:

It looks like she's mostly writing serialised fiction? unless I'm mistaken. any specific book you recommend?

Days of Abandonment is a good introduction to her, but her best and most famous work is her four-part Neapolitan series that is essentially one long novel broken up into four books. The final one just came out a couple weeks ago. The series is one of the best things I've ever read. The first book in that, My Brilliant Friend, can be read as a stand-alone book, but they get better. Don't let the kitschy covers throw you off�these are masterpieces.

# ? Sep 20, 2015 23:29

Shibawanko: Feb 13, 2013

ulvir posted:

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

Flannery O'Connor

# ? Sep 21, 2015 04:17

Grizzled Patriarch: Mar 27, 2014; These dentures won't stop me from tearing out jugulars in Thunderdome.

Joy Williams is rad if you're in the mood for short stories. And of course Alice Munro.

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's masterpiece though

It's very good but it's not my favorite novel of his. Then again I'm weird and I think his short stories are better than his novels so :shrug:

# ? Sep 21, 2015 05:42

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

Once goodreads recommended me the short stories of Ellen Gilchrist after I read Gaddis' novels and I thought she'd be proper Gaddissean before I clocked they just thought I was reading throuigh the winners of the American National Book Award

# ? Sep 21, 2015 09:46

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

thehoodie posted:

Read the Neapolitan series, which starts with "My Brilliant Friend." Absolutely fantastic in every way.

Where do you get the impression she's writing serialised fiction? Unless it's from the intentionally pulpy covers of all of her books.

Wraith of J.O.I. posted:

Days of Abandonment is a good introduction to her, but her best and most famous work is her four-part Neapolitan series that is essentially one long novel broken up into four books. The final one just came out a couple weeks ago. The series is one of the best things I've ever read. The first book in that, My Brilliant Friend, can be read as a stand-alone book, but they get better. Don't let the kitschy covers throw you off—these are masterpieces.

It was mostly the covers plus that she was noted for The Neapolitan series. But it seems I might've misunderstood the part, so I'll deffo keep her in mind. I love being proved wrong.

# ? Sep 21, 2015 11:24

Rabbit Hill: Mar 11, 2009; God knows what lives in me in place of me.; Grimey Drawer

Read more Margaret Atwood. Everybody starts with The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake, if you're a guy, but I say start with Alias Grace. Or if you really want to jump with both feet into Atwood at her most ~woman's lit~, read The Robber Bride (my favorite).

Also read A.S. Byatt and Pat Barker.

# ? Sep 21, 2015 12:42

Earwicker: Jan 6, 2003

ulvir posted:

not that much left of 2015 now, and I'm noticing that my reading list is hella male-centric to boot. Apart from Sylvia Plath, any other female authors I should bump up in my reading queue?

Here are some specific books that I found to be very good:

House of Splendid Isolation - Edna O'Brien
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The Pickup - Nadine Gordimer
The Memoirs of a Survivor - Doris Lessing
The Dew Breaker - Edwidge Danticat

# ? Sep 21, 2015 13:46

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 16, 2024 20:11

Mira: Nov 29, 2009; Max illegality.

What would be the point otherwise?

Nadine Gordimer is incredible. It's a shame people tend to overlook her as a prose stylist because of her activism.

# ? Sep 21, 2015 14:02

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

«‹›680 »