#561

Only Earthlings, which treads the same thematical ground of alienation and subverting social conventions in Japanese society but is so left field. Stayed with me longer than Convenience Store Woman.

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#562

I’ve only read one thing by Clarice L and I really wanted to like it but struggled with it a bit. really beautiful prose though. will read something else by her at some point

#563

Really like Daisy Johnson, Elena Ferrante and Elizabeth Strout.

Read a few of Strout’s books in the past couple of years, not been let down by any of them. She’s a bit like a really economical Anne Tyler. Good tight prose and great at characters/relationships. Olive Kitteridge is a brilliant character (from, er, Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again).

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#564

Though ooh i’ll get that, but misread the title and searched for Sunny’s Knight. I was glad i used my phone rather than my work computer.

Sunny Knight’s ouvre is somewhat different.

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#565

Charity shop haul…£3.75

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#566

I’ve never read anything by Anne Tyler. Is there anything you’d recommend as an entry point?

re: Elizabeth Strout. My Name is Lucy Barton is the first book of hers I have read. I really liked it, and I think it’s brevity is what makes it work. It made my think of how Raymond Carver’s editor just kept removing and removing anything unnecessary so the stories were only a couple of pages long. I feel like My Name is Lucy Barton is something that could have been an epic in length, but what’s not said is what makes the gears work. I’ve ordered a copy of Olive Kitteridge.

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#567

I imagine it’s quite a different place these days. I can’t remember exactly what year the book stops in, but I believe the writer mentions the Ikea that was built in Red Hook.

#568

I did not know about ‘The Hotel’ ! Thanks! It sounds right up my street. I don’t live in the UK any more so I’m a bit out of touch with new media, but I’ll definitely check this out. It sounds like a Sunday evening listen, if you know what I mean

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#569

I think you’d quite like Earthlings and how absurd it is. It isn’t long either so I’d give it a try!

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#570

Yeah. I was there today. It’s a weird one. There’s a cluster of stuff next to the waterfront, including Sunny’s, which is like a little weekend circuit for yuppies like me. Then the other bit of the neighborhood is these massive projects.

#571

Hmm, The Accidental Tourist is probably a good Anne Tyler one to start with, and one of her most well known ones. Also liked Breathing Lessons, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and A Slipping Down Sort Life. Enjoyed some of the more recent ones too, but can’t remember which is which. She’s been going since the 60s, so a lot to choose from/loads I’ve not read.

Yeah, Elizabeth Strout has definite Raymond Carver vibes in how paired down it is. Glad you liked it!

#572

We went down there when we were staying in Brooklyn in September 19, as there’s an amazing view of Manhatten from a pier type thing.

The IKEA was quite incongruous.

There were loads of micro breweries and some grungy small industrial stuff. you could see the first bits of gentrification starting to happen.

#573

This has just arrived. I think my gf would love it but I’m worried it will give her ideas.

#574

The Magus

I don’t how to blur so will try to be vague (just like the book!)

Enjoyed this a lot for the most part. I think the concept itself is one that a lot of people (especially middle class Englishmen) will be attracted to- the idea of being immersed in this beautiful Greek island and lead astray by the siren calls. Loved the slow build up at the start, and the gradual unfurling on the island. Fowles is a very elegant writer, and it felt a bit like an intellectual page turner.

It’s power started to wane a little bit in the latter parts when we get a few more explanations, and I think the overall idea behind is reaching a little bit. I guess Fowles himself admits that this novel was written in a fragmentary way and is naturally flawed.

The mentions of Pirandello were interesting as I’ve read a couple of his works. It also reminded me a bit of Remainder by Tom Mccarthy, that sense of post modernism and creation/destruction.

There was a couple of bits in it which would seem a bit iffy nowadays- the function of Joe for example, and just the general idea of ‘playing’ with psychology/mental health.

Overall i enjoyed it though!

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#575

Anthills of the Savannah - Chinua Achebe

Been meaning to read more Achebe since I discovered Things Fall Apart a couple of years ago (?), which incidentally has to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and this is no less rewarding. Due to his knowledge of living under military dictatorships in his native Nigeria, his portrayal of an insidious, corrupting military junta, with a demigod as its leader, fawned over by obsequious advisors, is so vivid. The African proverbs peppered throughout are just brilliant as well.

What a writer.

#576

Thanks for the advice on Tyler. I couldn’t find a decent cheap copy on Allegro (the Polish equivalent of Ebay) and Brexit/Covid is causing havoc with deliveries from the UK so I downloaded The Accidental Tourist and started it today. It’s really good so far (the first 7%)

The synopsis for Breathing Lessons gave me Richard Ford / Bascombe trilogy vibes, being about family, and set on one day. Have you read anything by Ford? If not, I think he might be your kind of thing.

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#577

Feel like a sucker for buying this new Murakami collection. It’s like a pamphlet, and every story is ‘i slept with someone one time, wonder what they’re up to now? probably a ghost’

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#578

I think he even rewrote it at least once, right? Definitely flawed but I kind of like it for them on the whole. Has some really amazing moments, mostly in the first half.

#579

Don’t think I’ve read any Richard Ford. Will investigate!

#580

In the foreword he mentions it being a bit stop start, and then when it’s published he goes back and changes a few things