#1288

Hang on, this plot rings a bell, but not the title. Sure I’ve read it under a different name… hang on.

(I’m back) here we go

Tsukiko, thirty-eight, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, “Sensei” in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him “Sensei” (“Teacher”). He is thirty years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship-traced by Kawakami’s gentle hints at the changing seasons-develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to an enjoyable sense of companionship, and finally into a deeply sentimental love affair.

this sound like the same thing? It seems that Strange Weather In Tokyo is a UK title, and it’s called The Briefcase in the US. No idea how I managed to read a US edition though

#1289

Yeah, that’s definitely the same book. Interesting the title choices made with translations. Always assume in my head that it’ll be a more or less literal translation of the actual title. Obviously not!

#1290

Sounds like Washington Black might be the sort of thing you’d like. I thought it was pretty good.

#1291

Has anyone read any Faulkner? Specifically the Sound and the Fury?

This is my second attempt after trying a few years ago. It’s still quite baffling. Seems to be a clusterfuck of all the things that make a narrative difficult to follow- dialogue without speech marks, overlapping narratives.

I’m just surprised because Faulkner is supposed to be one of THE ones to read.

#1292

I read As I Lay Dying at school and loved it, probably didn’t have a clue what was going on a fair amount of the time, I can’t really recall. Never investigated any further

#1293

Yes, like you I tried twice, but I didn’t enjoy it at all. Not a big fan of stream of consciousness in general, and that very much applied to Sound and the Fury.

#1294

I started The Sound And The Fury at one point too but never got far - but As I Lay Dying is fantastic. It’s told from lots of different perspectives but once you’ve got used to that you’re laughing (and yes, actually laughing (in parts, not all the way through)).

#1295

I think I felt like this until right near the end and suddenly it clicks.

Same with AILD too I think.

Both are worth it. I’m planning to reread Lights In August at some point.

1 Like
#1296

I have As I Lay Dying, looks confusing from the few pages I’ve read but it’s short so I’ll try and get through it sometime

Also have Light in August, blurb sounds interesting but it’s long and I’ll probably never read it, something I’ve come to accept about a lot of the charity shop books I’ve bought over the years.

#1297

KEITH!

I just gave up on TSATF after reading these replies…started reading Jude the Obscure instead

Think I might stick with Jude tbh

#1298

I fucking hate Thomas Hardy.

You’ll hate your life afterwards. At least you’ll feel you’ve achieved something after TS&TF.

#1299

Why do you hate him? I read a short story collection that I enjoyed recently.

(I already hate my life too tbf)

#1300

Currently reading James Yorkston’s novel Three Craws, enjoying it so far, he has a lovely prose, as anyone who read his book of tour diaries from about a decade ago will know

Reading it all in his nice relaxing voice helps

#1301

I can’t really put my finger on why other than the relentless misery. I read a lot of dissatisfied or disappointed authors/ narrators but I feel like the way his characters just accept their grim circumstances and soldier on (or not) is just horrible. There’s a real lack of humour and a deference to the pastoral bleakness and pathetic fallacy. I was made to read The Mayor of Casterbridge for GCSE (hated it), read Jude for my degree (hated it) and Wessex Tales for book club (didn’t like it).

I have friends who are absolute Hardy obsessives but nobody has convinced me why I should give him more time.

1 Like
#1302

Recently read Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West, which I really enjoyed. As a friend and peer of F. Scott Fitzgerald, I was not surprised at the similar style and themes - differing points of view, short chapters, fringe characters on the edge of the mainstream, exploration of the emptiness of the American dream etc

Read it in one sitting. Loved it.

The supposed inspiration for Matt Groening’s Homer Simpson character, too…

2 Likes
#1303

Amazingly, I think the name is purely coincidental (Homer was the name of Matt Groening’s dad)

#1304

From the Wiki page:

It has been assumed that The Simpsons (1989) creator Matt Groening named his most famous character, Homer Simpson, after his own father, but in several interviews given in 1990, Groening reportedly stated that he named the character after the Homer in this novel, although neither explanation is considered definitive

1 Like
#1305

That’s interesting. I can definitely see bits of Locust Homer in some of the really early, more downtrodden everyman Simpsons Homer.

Found myself getting curious about John Schwartzwelder (reclusive Simpsons writer of the classic era) and his surreal detective comedy novels lately

#1306

Didn’t really get the prime of miss jean brodie

reading the savage detectives now

1 Like
#1307

@Otto seriously excellent book, was totally sucked into it - got nowt done yesterday till i finished it.
Is there anywhere where it’d help to leave a positive review?

1 Like