[andy popp]

For the Knausgaard fans out there:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/magazine/karl-ove-knausgaard-travels-through-america.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/magazine/karl-ove-knausgaards-passage-through-america.html

Thanks. I'd already read the second of these, which I thought was superb, but hadn't seen the first - shall look forward to it with anticipation.

[Falling Down]

Fiend I read Annihilation and enjoyed it.  Very Lovecraft... Going to read the other three parts.  Thanks for the recommendation. 

[Fiend]

  I liked the second one more. Some of the interactions (e.g. Whitby) gave me the shivers.

[DaveC]

I am in need of a little advice from the UKB biblio-massive: can I get recommendations for which translation of Dante's Divine Comedy might be best worth getting? Due to other books I have been reading lately bringing up the subject of Dante, it has occurred to me that I should get this on my 'to read' pile sooner rather than later. Andy?

[Falling Down]

I read Clive James' recent translation and really enjoyed it.  I've never read it before so have nothing to compare it to.  An amazing thing...

[DaveC]

James tried to translate in rhyme didn't he? I have heard he took some liberties to achieve it but it takes a brave man to attempt such a thing in translation so it's good to here it was worth reading. Might get a couple of versions and compare.

[andy popp]

I haven't a clue I'm afraid.

[DaveC]

Damn! There's never a Dante scholar around when you need one! Mind you, they would tell me to stop pissing around and learn Latin or Italian or something...

[Rocksteady]

Fiend I read Annihilation and enjoyed it.  Very Lovecraft... Going to read the other three parts.  Thanks for the recommendation.

I also read Annihilation on the above recommendations - Lovecraftian indeed, very spooky. Enjoyed it and was freaked out in equal measures. Good stuff.

Other recent reads:

The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights by former Poet Laureate John Masefield. To my shame I had never heard of this gentleman. These were very nicely written, magical children's stories. In one or two places the writing approaches the sublime. I sense that C.S. Lewis in particular would have been influenced by these in writing his Narnia series. The Midnight Folk was rather episodic, like a fairy tale more than a story with a strong narrative drive. The Box of Delights was darker and more menacing. The very end was a bit disappointing. Otherwise I liked it a lot.

Persuasion - Jane Austen. I've never read any Jane Austen before. I liked it well enough. Chirpy, witty, light reading. Will try others of her books. If all her other books are like this I will find it a little surprising that her works have endured so successfully, as I didn't find in Persuasion anything particularly profound or pithy compared to other books of similar ilk.

Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy. Two motivations for reading this - I've always liked the title, and I wanted to read it before I saw the film. I thought this was well-observed and well-written with luminous descriptions of the English countryside in the fictional county of Wessex (although it's basically Dorset). I didn't quite like the narrative voice. It reminded me of a phrase I read when studying Alexander Pope: 'the determining male gaze'. One senses that the writer is battling to set aside his ideology and the social mores of his time when trying to present a strong female character - and can't quite do it. It's like he's undermining with his tone the scheme for his book. I don't know, I'll have to think about it more. Liked this book a lot more than Tess of the D'Urbervilles which is the only other Hardy I've read.

I'm also working my way through Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe by Norman Davies. I'm about 3/4s through it and so far my opinion of this is very high - it's a quite beautiful idea to look at countries/nations/empires that no longer exist, and what happened to them. I get the feeling the author had some strong ideas (to review Prussia, Aragon, Lithuania, the USSR) and then filled in the book with other areas he was less passionate about (Byzantium, the kingdom of the Brits at Dumbarton Rock). However, the book taken as a whole (so far at least) is a great idea well-executed. It explodes the Whiggish history of continuous progress and very much highlights how history looks different depending on when and where you're writing it. Reminds me a bit of the idea in physics that observing something brings it into existence in the first place. It makes you think carefully about how fragile a thing a 'nation' is - indeed, how fragile civilization is. One of those books that makes you glad to be alive now, in 21st Century Britain, rather than at other times in history. Well worth a look.     

 

[Falling Down]

Great stuff.  That Norman Davies book sounds really good.  Have you read Michael Moorcock's "Colonel Pyatt Quartet"?  it opened up a big chunk of missing Prussian/Russian and Asian/East European history for me and was really entertaining, albeit through the eyes of a Jewish yet anti-Semitic unreliable narrator.

[Rocksteady]

Great stuff.  That Norman Davies book sounds really good.  Have you read Michael Moorcock's "Colonel Pyatt Quartet"?  it opened up a big chunk of missing Prussian/Russian and Asian/East European history for me and was really entertaining, albeit through the eyes of a Jewish yet anti-Semitic unreliable narrator.

Haven't read it FD, sounds excellent, will check it out.

[DaveC]

Norman Davies is a very readable historian but his books should be treated with caution as he has some eccentric views on European history.  The U.S. based British historian Tony Judt wrote a scathing review of his history of Europe back in the 90s that made criticisms that can be applied to much of his work. This hasn't stopped me from owning most of his books, he always has an interesting approach and brings up facts that most historians overlook.

[Falling Down]

I read some good books on holiday a few weeks back.

Electric Brae by Andrew Greig.  Johnny Brown always puts this at the top of his best-fiction-books-about-climbing list & I've been meaning to get around to it for ages.  It's been on my bookshelf but the small font didn't suit my eyes during the winter so put it off until I was away. Absorbing and a bit demanding.  Climbing is there as a backdrop against which the characters play out. I suspect a fair amount of disguised autobiography like M John Harrison's "The Climbers" formed much of this quite moving book.  Don't expect tales of derring-do on the cliffs and in return enjoy a great novel about growing through mid-life in Scotland during the 80's.

Songs in the Key of Fife by Vic Galloway. I'd just come back from King Creoste's Yellae Deuks festival and this is Vic Galloway's (of Khartoum Heroes and BBC Radio) account of how a small part of Fife gave birth to a vibrant alternative music scene centred around the DIY Fence Collective.  James Yorkston, King Creosote, KT Tunstall and so-on.  If you like their music you'll enjoy.  One for the curious fans and musicians looking for inspiration.

The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson.  I love Denis Johnson.  Tree of Smoke and Train Dreams are amongst the best books I've read in the last decade.  This one is a strange adventure of a CIA operative in West Africa based upon his own experiences there.  It's brilliant, strange and really well written.

Authority by Jeff Vandermeer.  Part two of the Southern Reach trilogy recommended by Fiend further up.  Expands the story but this time on the other side of Area-X.  No spoilers.  A bit annoying at times but quite wyrd in an HP Lovecraft/Robert Aickman style set in the 21st century.  There's another one to go.

Archetypal Psychology and Lament of the Dead by James Hillman.  Revelatory essays by James Hillman if you're interested in this kind of thing.  Nonsensical, impenetrable and not recommended if you're not.  The Lament of the Dead is a series of recorded and transcribed conversations between JH and Sonu Shamdassi, the scholar who undertook the difficult task of transcribing and reproducing CJ Jung's "Red Book". Jung's great private work.  Remarkable stuff.

Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto.  Writer of True Detective's first novel. A gritty sun-boiled noir journey through the Deep South. A mob fixer/enforcer learns he has lung cancer and ends up in a right mess of what was supposed to be a simple job.  On the run into Louisiana with a young prostitute events unfold and get really difficult.  A proper holiday book.

I'm in the middle of Common Ground by Rob Cowen.  An antitode to the more cerebral & academic Nature Writing that's all over the shelves at the minute.  Immersed in a small patch of edge-land on the edge of Harrogate.  Great so far.

[butters]

Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto.  Writer of True Detective's first novel. A gritty sun-boiled noir journey through the Deep South. A mob fixer/enforcer learns he has lung cancer and ends up in a right mess of what was supposed to be a simple job.  On the run into Louisiana with a young prostitute events unfold and get really difficult.  A proper holiday book.

Just finished this myself and it is bloody excellent - been reading a lot of noir lately (which I will detail in another post sometime) and this is right up there with the best in that style.

[Johnny Brown]

Don't expect tales of derring-do on the cliffs

Although there are some great bits - the 'you live dangerously pal' route on the Ben is about the best described bit of winter climbing I've read, all too familiar.

[hamsforlegs]

Galveston[/b] by Nic Pizzolatto. 

This sounds good. Also like the look of some of the history stuff discussed above. My history is poor to non-existent, so might dive into some of these.

Haven't posted here before and was just browsing for some inspiration. Thought I should pull my weight, so here's a few reviews from my reading in the last couple of months:

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – I know she has been debated here. My 2p. An old-fashioned ripping yarn in some ways. The gaping flaws in the plot and characterisation do leave me wandering at the praise it has received. Worthwhile ideas about the relationship between ethics and aesthetics, but spoiled by the ‘idiot’s guide’ exposition at the end. Some of the relationships/scenarios were beautifully drawn, and I found the early love/friendship story with Boris quite powerful in its own right. A good read but not a great one for me.

The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis – The only other Martin Amis novel I’ve read is ‘London Fields’, which I expected to dislike but thought was superb. I’d heard this was a kind of return to form. It’s written from the perspective of a 20 year old man on a trip to Italy in 1970, where a group of friends are dealing with relationships and the sexual revolution.  Funny and well observed in places, but has a sweltering, claustrophobic plot that eventually grated. A bit conceited. That said, it offers quite a compelling account of how the values of pr0nography have crept into modern sexual identity and relationships – this insight really develops later in the book and is nastily effective. Since it’s basically about lying in the sun hoping for a shag, I’d say it’s a decent holiday read.

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson – Won the Pulitzer Prize and I can see how. An account of a fantastical life in North Korea that manages to be somehow both epic and intimate, harrowing and humorous. Despite the sweep of the book, it has a parsimonious writing style and a sense of farce which keeps the whole thing really pacey and engaging.  Great stuff.

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey – A great big rococo splurge of a novel inspired by the life of de Tocqueville. It consists of intertwined first person memoirs by a French aristocrat and his servant as they travel to America during the time of the French Revolution. The two accounts are intensely personal, such that you have to wring the facts out from all of the emotion and confusion. I couldn’t completely believe in the characters, and the satire is a bit trite. That said, it’s an impressive bit of writing and although I found it hard to get into, I couldn’t put it down for the last half. I read Carey’s ‘Theft’ a couple of years ago, which had the same kind of panache but also a sense of person and place that I found quite affecting and better overall. Any top picks of his other novels?

[chris05]

My favourite Peter Carey are Oscar and Lucinda and the The True history of the Kelly Gang. Thanks for the reminder about him, I see he has a couple of new books out since I last looked although the reviews are a bit mixed.

[hamsforlegs]

My favourite Peter Carey are Oscar and Lucinda and the The True history of the Kelly Gang. Thanks for the reminder about him, I see he has a couple of new books out since I last looked although the reviews are a bit mixed.

Thanks chris05 - those were on my shortlist. Think I'll probably try True History next.

[Falling Down]

Don't expect tales of derring-do on the cliffs

Although there are some great bits - the 'you live dangerously pal' route on the Ben is about the best described bit of winter climbing I've read, all too familiar.

Yep true, I should said its not a book all about climbing.

[hamsforlegs]

Just finished Canada by Richard Ford. The story of a 15 year old boy forced to move to the Canadian prairies with strangers during the 1960s. The language in this book is outstanding; beautiful, understated passages describing the dereliction and loneliness of small town life and 'edge of the world' communities. It's a really warm, generous first person perspective, and yet the story builds up layers of subtle sadness. Quite a lonely read, but really excellent in my opinion. Highly recommended if you can get on with stuff in the 'Great American Novel' line.

[Falling Down]

Chris - Peter Carey a writer I've never read but keep meaning to do will add to THE LIST.  Hams - I enjoyed The Sportswriter, similar to John Updike's "Rabbit" quartet of brilliant every-man existentialist novels so will try Canada.  Thanks both for taking time to write up.

[andy popp]

My reading's been slow this year, but I recently finished one interesting book, The Valley by Richard Benson - the history of one mining family in the villages of the Dearne Valley across the twentieth-century (the author is a member of the family in question). This was lauded to the skies when it was published last year. I was slightly conflicted and in particular I sometimes struggled to get past the use throughout of the present tense (though this was probably just me wearing my professional historian's hat, as it were). Nonetheless this an often moving even beautiful account of the kinds of 'ordinary' lives that so often get overlooked by most history. Obviously would also be of great added interest to those with roots in or connections to that part of South Yorkshire.

[Schnell]

The best Peter Carey of read, of approx five total, is Oscar and Lucinda. It's got all the panache/swagger of, for example, Theft but is the most complete and well rounded of his that I've read.

[moose]

Chris - Peter Carey a writer I've never read but keep meaning to do will add to THE LIST.  Hams - I enjoyed The Sportswriter, similar to John Updike's "Rabbit" quartet of brilliant every-man existentialist novels so will try Canada.  Thanks both for taking time to write up.

Updike (along with Saul Bellow) is one of my glaring omissions - would you recommend him them? Is it best to start the Rabbits from the beginning, or would it be more advisable to start with the "best" book (which I have heard is the second).  On a similar vein, my favourite book in the horror-of-being-an-American-middle-aged-everyman (see also Roth, Ford) is Something Happened by Joseph Heller.  I personally found it more more affecting than Catch 22 (funnily enough, I have far more empathy for suburban failure than the comic-horror of war).  Some choice quotes:

“Something did happen to me somewhere that robbed me of confidence and courage and left me with a fear of discovery and change and a positive dread of everything unknown that may occur.”

“I get the willies when I see closed doors.”

“i know at last what i want to be when i grow up. when i grow up i want to be a little boy.”

“I have a feeling that someone nearby is soon going to find out something about me that will mean the end, although I can't imagine what that something is.”

[hamsforlegs]

The best Peter Carey of read, of approx five total, is Oscar and Lucinda. It's got all the panache/swagger of, for example, Theft but is the most complete and well rounded of his that I've read.

Good stuff, thanks. May plump for that over Kelly Gang for my next Carey read then.

Falling Down - just took delivery of The Sportwriter so looking forward to it.

Moose - appreciate the write up on Heller. Have re-read Catch 22 often and found it very moving, but always worried that I'd 'break the spell' by reading his other stuff. May have to branch out! I read Rabbit, Run a few years ago and found it a bit forced, but I wonder now if it might be better to tough it out and try the whole quartet as a single large novel. Rabbit, Run is easy enough reading for the sake of completeness.