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I'm reposting this from the "BAN ME" thread, in regards to the interaction between Author/Character/Reader: Tonight I finished Mist: A Tragicomic Novel by Miguel de Unamuno. I can give away plot points because it is sort of an anti-conventional novel and has a very loose plot that the author himself mostly divulges. It starts with a prologue by some guy named Victor writing about the author and other normal preface stuff. But that's followed by a post-prologue by the author himself, where he admits both that Victor is his fictional creation, and that the first prologue misrepresents him as an author etc. Essentially, what follows is a delightful, philosophical, shifting story where the author has various levels of involvement in the plot. E.g. the protagonist wants to kill himself but the author won't let him do it, because he desires to kill him off himself. Very funny and clever to boot! Unamuno isn't as well known outside Spain as he should be. If you've never read anything by him, it's a very quick read and I highly recommend it. In the same vein, I also recently read Unamuno's "San Manuel Bueno, Martyr" and Other Stories. Interesting Christian existentialist/Spanish fiction.
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Dec 13, 2006 10:52
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dokmo posted:Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner, which describes disaster following distaster, culminating in the Iraq/WMD "intelligence" that sealed their fate as laughingstocks. The author claims this history of ineptitude stems from the decision made early on to focus 90% of their resources on covert action as opposed to intelligence gathering, which resulted in an almost total ignorance of what what going on in the USSR over the 40 years of the agency's history. Weiner's new book, Enemies: A History of the FBI is also really good. If you liked Legacy of Ashes you should check it out, and there's actually quite a bit of overlap between the FBI and CIA, and Weiner spends a while detailing their rivalry and mutual escapades.
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Aug 2, 2012 23:54
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IT BURNS posted:Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Yoyage. This was a gigantic loving slog. Several hundred pages of "we're stranded and it's cold!" combined with spergtastic nautical descriptions made for a read as painful and prolonged as their ordeal. Fascinating heroism from Shackleton and a lovely novel from Lansing. By the time it picks up at the VERY end, I had already long since lost interest. Definitely DO NOT READ The Terror by Dan Simmons. It was basically this, but in a partially fictionalized form. Hundreds and hundreds of pages of "We're still stuck in the ice! It's so cold, and we're running out of supplies!" I can't believe I finished it. I can't imagine reading a non-fiction account of the trip, as Simmons at least spiced it up with some magical killer bear and eskimo nonsense.
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Dec 17, 2012 18:39
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gohmak posted:The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons Gohmak delivers a second stunning, trenchant review! We are all eagerly anticipating the third!
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Dec 19, 2012 21:25
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Zola posted:In my quest to read more of the classics, I just finished Charlotte Bronte's Villette this morning. It took me a while, this is no light read! I understand why Jane Eyre is better known, Jane Eyre is far more palatable a read, this one requires a lot more attention and some rudimentary French or willingness to hit an online translator repeatedly. Yeah, I listened to the book and it was enjoyable, but I definitely got tired of the constant french phrases/sentences that I couldn't understand. At least the reader had a convincing accent. Lots of untranslated bits (why is it always French?) is one of my pet peeves. More common in Victorian texts.
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Jan 9, 2013 19:47
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