|
Gaius Marius posted:Speaking of Mann, any opinions on Doctor Faustus? I picked up a copy of it and Death in Venice recently and trying to decide which to read first, I'm leaning towards Faustus purely for love of Goethe's work which I can compare and contrast while reading Mann's. I've read The Magic Mountain, Buddenbrooks, Joseph and his Brothers and Doctor Faustus and would recommend all the other novels above Faustus. It's a soul searching book on what happened and how could it have happened to Germany between the wars, it was so tiresome I didn't finish it.
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2023 07:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 01:25 |
|
|
A lot of mann is condensed into his short stories, tristan is my favourite of his. I like death in venice, although lolita is the ultimate response to it. I think it's better to go for the shorter material, get a sense of what he's aiming for, before committing to a longer work tbh
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2023 09:57
|
|
|
I know there are a lot of sebald fanbois in here (myself included) and I have to say if you are a sebald fan, do yourself a favor and read stepanova's In Memory of Memory. i can not get over how flippin good it was, easily one of the best books ive read ever.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2023 05:02
|
|
|
Jrbg posted:A lot of mann is condensed into his short stories, tristan is my favourite of his. I like death in venice, although lolita is the ultimate response to it. I think it's better to go for the shorter material, get a sense of what he's aiming for, before committing to a longer work tbh I guess I've only read Buddenbrooks but I wouldn't really hesitate to recommend it as a first, despite the length.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2023 17:29
|
|
|
Crespolini posted:I guess I've only read Buddenbrooks but I wouldn't really hesitate to recommend it as a first, despite the length. my brother got it in his head to read buddenbrooks at, like, fifteen and it turned him off Real Literature for good
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2023 17:14
|
|
|
V. Illych L. posted:my brother got it in his head to read buddenbrooks at, like, fifteen and it turned him off Real Literature for good I can see that happen.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2023 18:53
|
|
|
I remember being extremely bored by the television series as a wee lad. I think I inherited the book so I'll probably read it when I get to it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 08:53
|
|
|
I really loving need to read Brothers Karamazov soon.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 09:41
|
|
|
but first, Drive your plow over the bones of the dead
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 13:42
|
|
|
ulvir posted:but first, Drive your plow over the bones of the dead I'm reading that now. The main character is a kook, though this is fairy tale (ish) and perhaps soon I will discover if her weird theories are correct. I like the book enough to read Book of Jacobs in the near future - that was my main question about the author and went with the shorter option as a test
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 19:52
|
|
|
Jenny Erpenbeck's Kairos slaps so hard. hosed up romance set in the background of the disintegrating state of East Germany. It starts and finishes strong, but kinda drags a little bit in the middle for a good reason.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 19:59
|
|
|
rngd in the womb posted:Jenny Erpenbeck's Kairos slaps so hard. hosed up romance set in the background of the disintegrating state of East Germany. It starts and finishes strong, but kinda drags a little bit in the middle for a good reason. Haven't read it but Visitation was very, very good, the history of a house in the countryside outside Berlin and its occupants from like 19th century to about today.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:13
|
|
|
Kairos is p good. Hans is such a complete monster with those cassette tapes
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:28
|
|
|
I think my favourite of Erpenbeck is Aller tage abend, with Visitation as a 2nd
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:31
|
|
|
Mokelumne Trekka posted:I'm reading that now. The main character is a kook, though this is fairy tale (ish) and perhaps soon I will discover if her weird theories are correct. lol i’m in the same boat here, literally
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:36
|
|
|
Lobster Henry posted:I also recently read welcome to hard times by EL Doctorow which is another literary western. And obviously there’s cormac McCarthy. If anybody’s got more, let me know! Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down by Ishmael Reed
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 21:44
|
|
|
Reed writing a western sounds very intriguing. I wanted to get another of his works read but didn't know where to go after Mumbo Jumbo, seems I've got a place to go now.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 21:46
|
|
|
I wanted to read another book by Iris Murdoch, and now I've finished A fairly Honourable Defeat. It's good, though I didn't like it quite as much as The Sea. The short version is that the somewhat devil-like character of Julius King decides to gently caress with his acquaintances, some of whom may deserve it more than others. The characters are of course ridiculous people, as they have to be for events to proceed, but I still find myself asking why they put up with Julius and his bullshit. Apparently that's something he himself is frustrated by as well, given how pleased he is when Simon finally snaps and pushes him into the pool. Simon and Axel at least managing to survive his machinations was also a relief. The final reveal with Julius at the end has also been described as a little cheap and unnecessary. Maybe I just have bad taste, but I liked it. It made things sort of click into place for me. I might pick up The Good Apprentice next, as I'm finding Murdochs style extremely pleasant to read prose-wise. Lobster Henry posted:I also recently read welcome to hard times by EL Doctorow which is another literary western. And obviously there’s cormac McCarthy. If anybody’s got more, let me know! Me too. Good imo.
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2023 10:32
|
|
|
I know there’s at least one Dane as thread regular here. any recs on which book to start with if I want to read Helle Helle?
ulvir fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Sep 29, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2023 12:35
|
|
|
“After Leaving Mister Mackenzie” by Jean Rhys is short, sharp, sad and really good. I gotta reread “Wide Sargasso Sea” But I will never read any of these literary western recommendations I’ve solicited, because I’ve started “Jerusalem” and that’ll keep me occupied…. forever?
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2023 18:34
|
|
|
Philip Roth really caught my breath with Goodbye, Columbus. Makes me much more eager than I was earlier to read his later work. The lightbulb monologue in particular gives me a reason to go back and give Death of a Salesman another look. I'm reading the first short story in the volume and I bet they're all gonna be great.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2023 13:34
|
|
|
FPyat posted:Philip Roth really caught my breath with Goodbye, Columbus. Makes me much more eager than I was earlier to read his later work. The lightbulb monologue in particular gives me a reason to go back and give Death of a Salesman another look. I'm reading the first short story in the volume and I bet they're all gonna be great. Have you read American Pastoral? I couldn’t put it down, though I haven’t really enjoyed anything else of his that I’ve read (sabbath, portnoy, ghostwriter)
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2023 18:07
|
|
|
ulvir posted:I know there’s at least one Dane as thread regular here. any recs on which book to start with if I want to read Helle Helle? I thought de was good fwiw, haven’t any more of her but she’s on the list. Personally I’m about to start Cartarescu’s Nostalgia. I know it’s hyped and my bookstore in Stockholm was pretty packed when he was here in the spring I think, but I haven’t understood what’ exactly is supposed to be so good. Syncopated fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Sep 30, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2023 19:17
|
|
|
No, it’s my very first of his.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2023 01:30
|
|
|
blue squares posted:Have you read American Pastoral? I couldn’t put it down, though I haven’t really enjoyed anything else of his that I’ve read (sabbath, portnoy, ghostwriter) I bounced off it because there was too much baseball. (So by page 3 or something like that?)
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2023 15:54
|
|
|
the moscoviad is pretty funny, in a sardonic way
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2023 14:09
|
|
|
I’m reading “the idiot” because I loved the karamazov bros. For some reasons I thought it was short. It’s been a slog tbh. I’ve enjoyed the bit in the beginning where the prince pontificates on the moments after one is guillotined and also the origin of the bit in fight club where they pretend to execute someone in order to give them a new lease on life. Waiting on more philosophy.
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2023 04:56
|
|
|
Wouldn't Dostoevsky have been taking that from his own life-changing brush with the bullet?
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2023 07:58
|
|
|
Yeah.Proust Malone posted:I’m reading “the idiot” because I loved the karamazov bros. For some reasons I thought it was short. It’s been a slog tbh. I’ve enjoyed the bit in the beginning where the prince pontificates on the moments after one is guillotined and also the origin of the bit in fight club where they pretend to execute someone in order to give them a new lease on life. Idiot ends very strong but has a weak middle.
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2023 08:03
|
|
|
FPyat posted:Wouldn't Dostoevsky have been taking that from his own life-changing brush with the bullet? The whole book is very autobiographical. He was epileptic and there are tons of references to his own critics in the text. Reading it on kindle with footnotes is helpful, reading it in a class would be ideal seems to me. I’m missing tons surely.
|
|
#
?
Oct 5, 2023 15:24
|
|
|
Ended up rereading Wuthering Heights and I’ve found a good band name: The Terrible Intimation of Kenneth
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2023 17:56
|
|
|
Can anyone recommend a good translation of Goethe's Faust? Mostly looking for Part One atm
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2023 18:14
|
|
|
David Luke is consistently the best because he understands English verse v well, he also did a good one of Iphigenia in Tauris
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2023 18:22
|
|
|
I'll second David Luke. Only criticism I have is that his introduction to Pt.2 is longer than the text, or near enough.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2023 19:14
|
|
|
ulvir posted:I know there’s at least one Dane as thread regular here. any recs on which book to start with if I want to read Helle Helle? Dette burde skrives i nutid / The should be written in the present tense is very typical for her if you ask me, in that there's just a hint of a plot and mostly good observations about human habits and life in Denmark. Reading it was a feeling of "nothing much is happening, but I can't put it down".
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2023 22:46
|
|
|
Just started Doctor Zhivago, no idea what to expect as I have never heard anything about the plot and haven't seen the movie.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2023 13:26
|
|
|
Well after 120 pages I finally stopped trying to get through Can Xue's Frontiers. She was apparently a frontrunner for the Nobel this year but 360 pages of surreal dream sequences that have no real momentum couldn't sustain me. That and the translators' odd decision to translate some of the names into English. I get how some people may like the vibe but I think it would work more for short stories, which I understand she has published a bunch of. Or if your really like David Lynch and Inland Empire. Not for me! Palate cleansing with Bolaño's Savage Detectives which so far is beautiful with some odd machismo and literary obsessions but I like it a lot more.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2023 23:28
|
|
|
I'm in the mood for some real literature after a long, long time away from it. Any recommendations? I'm not really in the mood for anything intense, so anything depressing, or manic, or confusing is right out. Russian lit need not apply. Something sublime or somber would be great. Mentally, I'm picturing something with the feeling of The Name of the Rose, but I'm open to suggestions.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2023 03:53
|
|
|
Segue posted:360 pages of surreal dream sequences drat this sounds right up my alley, thanks! FWIW tho I agree that her short stories are a better display of her surrealism, in particular the collection Vertical Motion. I also thought Five Spice Street was pretty funny and easy to follow.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2023 04:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 01:25 |
|
|
Haystack posted:I'm in the mood for some real literature after a long, long time away from it. Any recommendations? I'm not really in the mood for anything intense, so anything depressing, or manic, or confusing is right out. Russian lit need not apply. Something sublime or somber would be great. Mentally, I'm picturing something with the feeling of The Name of the Rose, but I'm open to suggestions. the book you are looking for is Moby Dick
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2023 05:38
|
|
