Constant Reader discussion

I just finished Amsterdam by Ian McEwen. I'd been looking forward to it for a while and was very disappointed. I see a few GR/CR friends gave it just one or two stars, and take comfort that perhaps I am not an utter dolt. I didn't find it all that funny (perhaps satire loses its punch after 18 years?) and am amazed that it won the Man Booker.

Mary Ellen wrote: "I just finished Amsterdam by Ian McEwen. I'd been looking forward to it for a while and was very disappointed. I see a few GR/CR friends gave it just one or two stars, and take comfort ..."

I remember really disliking it, too, Mary Ellen. At least it was short.

I just read The Dig by Welsh author Cynan Jones for my in-person book discussion group. It's far from an easy read, except for its relative brevity. But for those able to get past the violence it might be worth a try for the power and beauty of its language, and its unstinting picture of two people seemingly lost in their anger or their sadness.

Here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sherry wrote: "Mary Ellen wrote: "I just finished Amsterdam by Ian McEwen. I'd been looking forward to it for a while and was very disappointed. I see a few GR/CR friends gave it just one or two stars..."

Ha! My thought exactly, Sherry!

Victor Navasky's Naming Names. I almost gave up on this book about half-way through; I'm glad I didn't. Navasky's thoughtful analysis and interpretation of events in the film and theater world during the McCarthy era and beyond are interesting and perceptive. The amount of detail in the first half of this book, however - at least for me - borders on tedium and gossip. This book was first published in the 80's; I read the 3rd edition, which was published in 2002. Serendipitously, we watched Trumbo while I was reading this book, a coincidence which I appreciate and recommend.

The Country Under My Skin by Giaconda Belli – 3***
Subtitled: A Memoir of Love and War, this is Belli’s account of her decades as a high-level member of the Sandinistas fighting for reform in Nicaragua, and of the passionate love affairs she had during this time. Belli is a good writer and her story-telling is top notch. I was fascinated and I learned something about the revolution in Nicaragua. But … In the end I couldn’t reconcile my admiration for her as a writer with my dislike of her as a person. So I’m conflicted, and am taking the middle road with 3 stars.
Full Review HERE

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE HER. I loved these stories. Junot Diaz's writing is incredibly evocative - sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell - all contribute to experiencing the places and characters that fill his stories of love, conflict, loss, regret, and recovery.

i have been reading half thru (HIDDEN RICHES) nora roberts

Mary wrote: "THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE HER. I loved these stories. Junot Diaz's writing is incredibly evocative - sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell - all contribute to experiencing the places and characters that..."

I absolutely loved The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao--haven't really read any of his other books. Gotta get them on the list!

Sara, I also loved The Brief Wondrous Love of Oscar Wao. That's what led me to pick up the book of short stories even though I'm not usually drawn to them. Thus volume, however, reads almost like a novella composed of related vignettes.

I fell off this thread for a long while. I didn't try to catch up with everything, but I've read the comments of the last week or so. Two comments: I LOVED The Masters, which I read many years ago. And I agree with others about Amsterdam. I read a comment by some critic that the Booker was a kind of apology for not having given him the award for some previous book in a year this critic thought he deserved it. (Not elegantly stated, but I hope understood.)

I, too, have been away for awhile and just spent some time catching up on what everyone has been reading. It struck me that I should reread Roots: The Saga of an American Family. My recent reads: Cry to Heaven which I thought was a very well written book and one that I just can't get out of my head and Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City, a nonfiction by Russel Shorto that was wonderful.

I just finished Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer. It's an excellent book, so well-documented and researched. But boy is it scary. I feel that I need a literary palette-cleanser. A fiction sorbet, so to speak. So I started a book I've had for years, Yo! by Julia Alvarez.

Donna,
I also read Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City this spring in preparation for an upcoming trip to the Netherlands. I thought it was excellent.

Ann wrote: "Donna,
I also read Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City this spring in preparation for an upcoming trip to the Netherlands. I thought it was excellent."

I loved Amsterdam. Check out the library's 7th floor cafe overlooking the port.

Thanka for the heads up on the library cafe!

Atticus by Ron Hansen – 4****
While there is certainly a mystery at its core, the novel is more about the father-son relationship, and the failure of both of them to openly communicate and understand one another. In many ways this story echoes the parable of the Prodigal Son from the bible. The plot has several twists and turns that kept me intrigued and turning pages, but the star of the novel, to me, was the writing and the exploration of these characters and their motivations.
Full Review HERE

Sherry wrote: "I just finished Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer. It's an excellent book, so well-documented and researched. But..."

I want to read this. Right now, I'm #31 out of 50 on the waiting list. I have moved up in line.

Kat wrote: "I fell off this thread for a long while. I didn't try to catch up with everything, but I've read the comments of the last week or so. Two comments: I LOVED The Masters, which I read m..."

A belated response to say 1. hooray! I had thought that Snow was almost entirely lost and forgotten as an author of fiction. and 2. I'm yet another reader who hated Amsterdam. I think for me the problem with that book was that we were told we would receive an account of how a friendship can go from intimate to sour, and instead we were just told that it did, not shown how. (Also, the change happened remarkably fast. I didn't find anything about the relationship in the least either believable or interesting.)

Speaking of lost and forgotten authors, I recently finished a second book by L.P. Hartley. While I think that his book, The Go-Between, which I read sometime in the last couple of years is still read (possibly because it's the basis for a more famous novel by the aforementioned Ian McEwan), his other novels seem to have faded away, which is a shame.

I just finished The Shrimp and the Anemone, which was, if anything, even better than the Go-Between. Hartley has a lovely writing style, and his accounts of childhood are very interesting and deftly handled. The reader can see the features of the adult world that the child is missing, and yet also enter into the child's point of view. It's a shame that these books aren't read more.

Nicole wrote: "I just finished The Shrimp and the Anemone..."

Maybe propose it for the Classics reading list?

Kat wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I just finished The Shrimp and the Anemone..."

Maybe propose it for the Classics reading list?"

Too late (I already submitted two other titles). Also, I'm not 100% sure it's in print: my copy came from the local library book sale.

I just finished Elizabeth Taylor's The Soul of Kindness. I liked it very much, though I liked the others I've read by her more. However, I took a long pause in the middle while I took my trip to Italy, and that's never good for a book.

I just finished Yo! by Julia Alvarez. It was quite good. It's a string of chapters about the main character told from different people's perspective. I thought it lost a little steam at the end, especially since I lost track of who some people were, but overall, I liked it a lot. Alvarez is a very good writer. I'll be reading more of her.

Forgotten authors month continues at my house, with Claude Houghton, Julian Grant Loses His Way. It's my second Houghton novel (the first was I Am Jonathan Scrivener), and I find I really like him. It's a shame he's fallen into obscurity.