#1773

So far: read 32/70, would have voted for 7 (Shirley Jackson, Elena Ferrante, Donna Tartt, Terry Pratchett, Jeanette Winterson, Herman Hesse & Hunter S Thompson). A good dozen or so others would’ve made the longlist.

#1774

Poll is (no longer) broken, so my answer is “other - Jerusalem”. To my mind a proper tour-de-force tour-de-force epic. Covers almost every style and form of writing, and makes Northampton seem like a wonderful, magical place. The very heart of the universe spilling out from the Earth.

Still, that Joycean chapter about 900 pages in is a right-old headfuck, and a classic Alan Moore grumpy kick in the groin for getting that far.

2 Likes
#1775

Fixed it

1 Like
#1776

And I’ve fixed my reply! :smiley:

1 Like
#1777

Great work all round!

1 Like
#1778

I do the read in bed thing but don’t crash after 10 mins. I have bad sleep :cry:

#1779

was reading a susan sontag essay about kis not too long ago, sounded good… which is your favourite?

1 Like
#1780

my vote is also for jerusalem, largely in order to brag about having read it (it’s long)

(either watchmen or from hell for graphic novels)

#1781

I’ve only read Encyclopaedia of the Dead which is just a short collection of stories

There’s one quite good story which is about a library that contains documents of every human being’s existence

1 Like
#1782

My faves are coming thick and fast and I’m annoyingly busy atm. Some quick fire praise:

Borges - can see how people are criticising him for being all head and no heart but sweet jimminy christ the ideas that man had. Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is my favourite short story ever written (so good I named an ambient banger after it).

Baldwin - not as good a novelist as he was a social critic but only because he spoke with such eloquent rage and sombre authority his fiction has a near impossible bar to clear. The Fire Next Time is the most sober-yet-incendiary pieces of writing on race I’ve ever read, Beale Street and Giovanni’s Room both truly heartbreaking tales of doomed romance (doomed for very different reasons). Need to read more of his work.

Moore - everyone’s favourite crotchety cartoon wizard. Tore an art form down and rebuilt it. Didn’t vote for him though for the same reason @maggieloveshopey didn’t. Never read his prose - need to rectify that.

4 Likes
#1783

No. 27

Michael Chabon

  • Moonglow
  • Wonder Boys
  • The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
  • Telegraph Avenue
  • The Final Solution
  • The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
  • Werewolves in Their Youth
  • Gentlemen of the Road
  • Summerland
  • Manhood for Amateurs
  • Other
  • None
  • Heard of, not read
  • DKWYA, P

0 voters

1 Like
#1784

Voice Of The Fire’s decent as well. Surprised there’s not been many more graphic novelists, beginning to suspect Herge and the Asterix lads won’t show up now

1 Like
#1785

He’s the ultimate literary pisstaker! All those fake references and inconsistencies etc. He was also the first writer to show me you could think about things in an entirely different way if you wanted to - the minotaur story, and the Judas one for instance. I think he’s really playful.

4 Likes
#1786

yeah, I thought encyclopaedia of the dead was pretty decent too, and preferred it to the little Borges I’ve read. Think I liked the Simon Magus story best

@noise_ramones the only Borges I specifically remember having read was Funes the Memorious, which I’ve just reread and I still do not like. But if I haven’t read those others I’ve absorbed them somehow.

#1787

Read the Picture of Dorian Grey once. It was fine.

#1788

Ahh Funes the Memorious was the first Borges Story I read, I love that one.

1 Like
#1789

uh oh if I’m not careful I’m going to end up reading loads of Borges to be able substantiate my anti-Borges beeving better

1 Like
#1790

Other:

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Can’t remember if he made my short list or not in the end. I know that Brian K Vaughan was on the long list too…

EDIT: checked and neither of them did.

3 Likes
#1791

No. 26

Roddy Doyle

  • Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
  • The Barrytown Trilogy
  • The Woman Who Walked Into Doors
  • A Star Called Henry
  • Paula Spencer
  • Smile
  • Other
  • None
  • Heard of, not read
  • DKWYA, P

0 voters

1 Like
#1792

Obviously I’ve seen The Commitments.