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Patrick's List (402; 30.80%)
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Four rather insignificant co-workers approach retirement with its impending loneliness and the changes this new stage of life will foist unto them. This was probably the longest 186-page I have read. Everything in it felt gray, not just the protagonists'hair. Sure, the topic was worth exploring and I guess there weren't too many other ways to render the whole thing. But. It. Was. Boring. And a bit scary too: you don't want to end like these people. At least, I know I'll do better on the reading side than Letty...
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King is truly a master of the modern horror story and The Shining is a clear example of this mastery. Supernatural themes are blended with psychological observations and folk stories to make the story more plausible and at the same time to sustain a narrative tension which has become the main fare of the thriller genre. A novel that was hard to put down; it now makes me want to watch the movie and see more than the emblematic and scary Nicholson face peeking through that broken door.
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This was really a bit "meh": an elderly Ukrainian living in the UK agrees to enter into a convenient relationship with a gold-digger compatriot in her mid-thirties who seeks to empty his bank account and to suck greedily at the teats of the British welfare system, prompting two warring sisters to get closer and gang up to thwart the plans of the succubus of the steppes. It has many elements common to many average family soaps, despite showing some other interesting aspects on the history of Ukraine and of tractors, on not always knowing who you are and where you come from and on sibling relationships. Had some funny moments, but nothing for stitches.
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Up to this year, Radetzky March was for me a promising thoroughbred horse, racing about 10 years ago, which had won 7 of its 11 first races (and rewarding me for a few wise bets on his successes). But then, his wheels fell off and never managed to do better than a 3rd place (and punishing me for a few unwise bets on his "successes") until they retired him a couple of years later.
When being faced with the prospect of reading this book, I wanted to find out what was the Radetzky March and discovered that it was a military march composed by Strauss in 1848 to commemorate Field Marshal Radetzky's victory at the battle of Custoza (thanks Wikipedia). I immediately recognized it when I listened to it (thanks YouTube), in all its pomposity and grandiosity. It really feels like a euphoric victory march.
By choosing this piece as the title for his novel portraying the decay of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Roth clearly conveyed the sense of euphoria, of "nothing-can-wrong-with-Franz-Joseph" that pervaded and poisoned this Empire until its end, as portrayed through the destinies of three generations of Trottas: the grandfather, hero of the battle of Solferino; his son, the baron acting as district commissioner; the grandson, granted an officer's position in the army and multiplying judgment errors and messing up his life until being killed in vain and ungloriously at the beginning of WWI. It is not an easy read, but it clearly provides examples, through the characters' actions and attitudes, of why the Austro-Hungarian Empire was doomed. It is a good companion to two other novels which depict more or less directly the same downfall: The Man Without Qualities from Musil and The Good Soldier Svejk from Hasek.
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One of my ex-girlfriends many times recommended that I watched the movie based on this novella, stating that it was impossible to watch it without weeping at the end. While I am yet to see the Visconti masterpiece, I can now somewhat understand the emotional perspective emanating from this story. A German writer feeling the inspirational fire deserting him decides almost fortuitously to travel to Venice where he encounters the paragon of Beauty in a Polish teenage boy. His infatuation develops into an obsession until his untimely death, succumbing to a cholera epidemic. While the writing often enables you to feel what Aschenbach felt (for example, I was just as annoyed as he was at all the hurdles and inconveniences marring the beginning of his trip), the novella is made even richer by its multiple references to Greek philosophy and its allegorical use of the cholera epidemics plaguing the Mediterranean at the beginning of the 20th century. This text had all the elements of a classic novella (mounting tension, abrupt ending, albeit predictable) and more.
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I would have to say this is one of my favourite sci-fi story, because of rather plausible way it was developed and for the multiple ethical, moral and philosophical questions that it generates. Who knows if other worlds (provided they exist) function just as our own microcosm...
If you have the opportunity to watch a movie version of this book, please, please, please don't watch the Hollywood crap that Soderbergh did with Clooney, but rather aim to find a copy of the masterpiece produced by Tarkovsky in the 70s: it really immerses you into the Solaris world and its slow pace allows you to think and think about what is currently happening and how it could make sense.
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I generally don't have an issue with chaos; in fact, I almost always enjoy it. Deconstruction is a little bit like chaos and it pervades this novel from Danielewski. It maintained my interest until the second trip in the maze by Navidson (it was 4 stars up to there); for some reason, I just completely lost interest and the inherent narrative tension from that point on, I was just reading words which, arranged graphically in various patterns, seem to grow in meaning. But I would probably need a re-read at some point because I probably got lost with Navidson in the maze.
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This novel, partly fiction, mostly facts, traces the efforts from the author to reconstruct the moment when Rafael Sanchez Mazas, one of the founders of the Spanish falange active during the Civil War, has just escaped his execution and is saved by an unknown militiaman, all for the purpose of writing a book. While the first two parts were not too exciting, the third part, which contains the whole plot unravelling, was worth the pain of the first two parts, partly because of an impressive guest appearance from Roberto Bolaño, partly because of the Mirellas character. A good introduction on the Spanish Civil war and a nice reflection on the nature of heroes.
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Six interlocking stories, embedded within each other like matriochkas, using different narrative styles and carrying one or many objects from one story to the other. A big (and somewhat pessimistic) reflection on human condition and how history often repeats itself in various ways. I am undecided as to whether the movie is better than the book or vice versa; but both are quite good.
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A year in the life of two Irish ex-pats returning from London to settle in rural Ireland, with a cast of colorful and strange neighbours, with lots of whiskey and animal dealings. I don't know what's the problem with me and contemporary Irish writers, but I'd rather watch paint dry...
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A beautifully written book about the troubles affecting a black family living in Ohio in the 40s, especially Pecola, dreaming of having blue eyes, but also victim of child abuse.
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A novel focusing on the inhabitants of a busy alley in Cairo during the British occupation in WWII, on their dreams, their opportunities, but also their failings and weaknesses. I found it quite interesting to see that many of the issues often seen in Western novels have also been explored in an (almost secular) Islamic perspective. However, considering that Mahfouz has often been labelled as an Egyptian Zola, I didn't think the writing style lived up to the label or the expectation. Nevertheless, it was not a bad read.
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This felt like reading something from a more strident Michael Moore who had lived 100 years ago (I much prefer Michael Moore). While this novel unearthed many of the truths behind the meat-packing industry and the rife graft and corruption in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century through the extraordinary life of Jurgis Rudkus, it was so heavy to read, probably because of the style it was written in. The last 30-odd pages, preaching all the virtues of Socialism as it was evolving at that time, were excruciating, even for a left-leaning person like me.
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The destinies of four lives become intricately linked during the period of the Indian Emergency in the mid-70s. A novel about hope and despair, this page-turner guides you through the whole gamut of possible emotions. Another very fine example of contemporary Indian literature.
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Set in South Africa in the early 80s, during some of the racial conflicts that ultimately led to the end of the apartheid regime, this novel explores the relationships of a white family escaping the city violence with their black "servant", who hid them among his native village. While the premise of the story from a plot and historical perspective, the somewhat elliptical writing style made it difficult to read at times (I almost gave up after 5 pages), even though this style actually lends itself to the context of the story.
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This novel feels like a collision between A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin and The Stranger by Albert Camus, but all we have left is the wreckage. A recently divorced woman with a taste for romantic/sexual adventure gets on a junket in the south of France while her ex and their son go on a camping trip. The kid dies in an accident, she's in shock but still persists carousing around and picks up what looks like the clap. Meh.
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A classic adultery story from the Russian late 19th century. The focus is not only on the affair between Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky and its dire consequences, but also on the relationship between Kitty and Levin, and the latter's musings about the meaning of life. I particularly liked the realist descriptions of the last few parts, covering the gradual mental descent of Anna Karenina and the gradual epiphany of Levin. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, I still much prefer War and Peace.
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My struggles with Irish novelists (except Joyce) continues...
The story of a budding relationship between an Irish girl and a young English officer, which cannot happen on a background of Irish troubles, dancing parties and posh tennis games. All this written in a style heavily redolent of Virginia Woolf (well, Bowen was close to the Bloomsbury set and Woolf visited her on a few occasions at Bowen's Court); I really can't stand that writing style which tries to be witty and poetic, but often end up being irritating and opaque.
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I quite enjoyed this at times poetic, at times mystical novel centering around the experiences of two men, at different periods, leaving (Muslim) Sudan to study in Europe and returning to their country experiencing personal cultural clashes between North and South. The nested and elliptical structure of the narrative was a bit daunting, but provides the book with an ambience reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. I will need to re-read this.
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Another little gem of contemporary Indian literature. Two-egg twins, Rahel and Esthappen reunite in the village of their childhood after a long separation caused by tragic events which happened in the late sixties. We slowly understand, piece by piece, what led to these tragedies and what impact it had on the remaining characters. The familiar Indian themes of caste, family and men vs women are again explored, but under a new light. I quite enjoyed the playfulness of Roy's writing, especially when it came to describe how clever/inventive/curious the twins were in their childhood.
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I have to admit that I was slightly apprehensive about reading that novel, knowing that it provided the inspiration for the musical Cabaret (I hate musicals...). However, I believe the substance of the novel was far removed from its better known musical offshoot. In a series of diaries focusing on specific people living in Berlin during Hitler's rise to power, the novel provides interesting insights on pre-WWII Germany, through the eyes of an outsider (on many levels), fictionalised version of the author. Many passages provided a clear preview of things to come and how the various characters were already dealing with the situation. Surprisingly compelling.
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This Chinese classic revolves around the life of Bao-Yu, who had been born with a jade stone in his mouth. Beyond this main thread, the novel portrays the decline of a noble Chinese family in the 18th century and offers a very broad and detailed view of life during that period across all its social classes. With its 120 chapters, it felt like some sort of a template for these Chinese soaps that we can see nowadays, not only in structure, but also in themes. I loved going through this book and its myriad of characters; I am planning to watch the 80s TV version of the novel once my Chinese level has reached an acceptable level.
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Saleem Sinai is born on the stroke of midnight the day India becomes an independent country; his life, triumphs and tragedies and India's modern history are intricately linked in this novel full of magical realism, laughter and tragedy. For me, magical realism works best when there is a picaresque flavour to it (think Garcia Marquez) and it is present to an extent in this novel. I liked Grimus, but I enjoyed Midnight's Children even more.
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A "whodunit" where an aristocrat assumes the role of a copywriter to investigate a possible murder in an advertising agency in the 30s. The plot and intrigues were quite interesting, even though the identity of the murderer became fairly clear too early. While not being an absolute page-turner, I still took some delight in being introduced to the world of Lord Peter Wimsey.
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This started as a potential story about a dinner guest (Miles Garth) who all of a sudden decided to seek refuge in a guest bedroom and then refused to come out for a long period of time. Instead, we were offered external views of this story from characters very loosely related to Miles. Even though this was a bit original and the fact that I enjoyed the numerous puns and play on words, I didn't really enjoy this novel and failed to appreciate many of its possible messages/meanings. I struggled many times with sleep-inducing passages from the third part ('for'). I was expecting more.
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Two friends, separated for 41 years and by some assumed secret events, meet again to revisit one fateful night. In many ways a thriller, as the main protagonist (General Henrik) reveals gradually, through the expert interrogation of his friend Konrad, why they have been separated for so long. A reflection on friendship, vengeance and the power of memory. It leaves you with many questions and asks for a re-read. Riveting.
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A coming-of-age/adventure story where a lad gets fooled by his duplicitous uncle and is effectively kidnapped to be sold to the plantations in the Carolinas, before escaping his captors and returning home with the help of a Jacobite fugitive. On the background of the period following the Jacobite rising of 1745, the novel helps us discover some historical aspects of Scotland as well as the geography of the Highlands. Even though it's an adventure novel, it still feels quite slow-going, partly because of the heavy use of local dialects in the writing. It was ok.
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When I saw the title of this novel, I was expecting (and maybe dreading a little) a mystery focusing on mercers and fashion designers. I was so wrong. The Nine Tailors delves into campanology, the art and science of bell-ringing; it refers to the peals rung on funerals and prefaces well a murder mystery. As my second Sayers/Lord Wimsey, this was much better than Murder Must Advertise. The characters, set in Fen country, were a lot more picturesque and interesting than the copywriters of MMA. The plot and mystery were more intricate, less predictable. And the details on campanology, even though quite obscure, provide a very clever theme around which the plot is woven.
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Interesting story about emancipation, race and gender issues among the Black community in Florida in the early part of the 20th century. The use of vernacular language made this novel quite authentic and, as a precursor to other Black American female writers (like Toni Morrison), I felt this was a case of "the initial/original was much better" than the more contemporary offshoots.
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D-305, a mathematician/engineer at work on the Integral project in the future totalitarian and hyper-rational One State, has his world turned upside down when he meets the mysterious and flirtatious I-330. To some extent, a parabole on the future of the communist ideology if it were allowed to be pushed to its extremes. This is an important dystopian and science-fiction novel which inspired many others later on. I was hooked by the mathematical thematic of the novel, especially the concept of √(−1) being D-305's most reviled number; it is beyond an irrational number, it's in the realm of complex numbers, whose existence perhaps the Soviets could have ended up denying.
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The novel takes place in the hinterland of Queensland in the middle of the 19th century, when Gemmy Fairley, a Scottish boy taken in by Aboriginals for several years after being cast ashore, is encountered by a family of settlers who in turn take him in. His presence however will create all sorts of fears and mistrust due to his past and his connections with the Aboriginals. This novel gives a fair idea of how mentalities were (and, to some extent, still are) in the contacts between white and Aboriginal cultures. One strength of this novel is the use of various perspectives around the same events to progress the story.
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A semi-autobiographical novel about an adopted girl who grew with a zealous Pentecostal mother, gradually realising throughout her teenage years that she was a lesbian. A very readable and interesting novel about someone's determination to be herself, despite the isolation she suffered because of her religious beliefs and practices and, later, her sexual orientation.
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The initial idea (finding a long lost diamond through the use of a time-travelling technique involving data analysis) was interesting. Linking the fate of this diamond to the fate of a Puritan woman who grew up near Salem under the constant threat of the indigenous tribe and who ended up in the fledgling settlements of the East India Company made for an interesting use of history to create a deeper plot. Yet, the execution of those ideas was lacking as the novel failed to captivate me. Among the chief problems were the fact that there were too many loose ends (e.g. Why couldn't we find the diamond? Why was the technology used in the novel a bit more prominent, despite the its strong presence at the beginning?) and the writing style of the author, which is quite redolent of A.S. Byatt, looking erudite just for the sake of showing it. Disappointing.
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"One of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century" - Alexander McCall Smith
NOT.
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I have never read Hemingway before. And I don't like fishing. This did not bode well. But I ended up absolutely loving these short 99 pages depicting the struggle of the old man, still hopeful of getting his big fish, with the sea and all its perils. This was as close as stream of consciousness you could get: not too much, but just enough to make you truly feel what the old man would have experienced on that boat. It was simple, but so deep in meaning and emotions, so full of life in all its aspects, the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful (the blood, the urinating, the eating of raw fish). This should be read in one sitting, undisturbed. I find this novel uplifting.
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This short novel was groundbreaking in many respects. First, being written in the 17th century, it was deemed by some as the first "novel". Second, it was written by a woman, something which was quite rare at the time. Third, it dealt with slavery and, without necessarily outspoken, was against slavery. It is the story of a prince, in a location in today's Ghana, whose love interest was stolen by the king for his harem. After a few incidents, in order to ensure that Oroonoko and Imoinda (the love interest) were separated, they were both sold into slavery by the king. Following a series of fortuitous events, they get reunited as slaves in Surinam, where they will meet their ultimate fate. A bit hard to read due to the heaviness of the language of the era, but nonetheless interesting.
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Often labelled as the first gothic novel, this story revolves around a rogue medieval prince who was about to preside over the wedding of his only son and the daughter of a distant relation when a series of supernatural events, starting with the sudden death of the son crushed under a giant-sized helmet apparently taken from a nearby statue, led to a myriad of secrets and plots revealed with dire consequences. Even though gothic by nature, this short novel's twists and turns made me laugh more than once. Again, the olden language and very long paragraphs made reading a little bit tedious.
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This was my second experience with Carey, the first being the excellent True History of the Kelly Gang. With Jack Maggs, I was hooked straight away. There is a definite Dickensian feel about this novel, whether the characters' names, the crooked aspect(s) of their nature, the same period, the same vile motivations. But there is also this political tinge, which is still relevant today, about the author's desire for Australia to become a republic and sever ties with England, in the same way he wanted Maggs to realise that he was no longer an Englishman and that his future belonged in Australia.
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This novel came as a surprise to me. I (wrongly) expected something similar to Jane Austen; instead, this was much darker and I was treated to an exploration of passion and isolation pushed to its extremes, with characters eerily close to some of the "deranged" characters we often encounter in Russian novels of the same period. Heathcliff emerges as an iconic, but divisive character who leaves me ambivalent. It is such a wonder that a novel of such quality was written from somebody of Emily Brontë's background and similarly isolated origins.
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Another novel chronicling the end of the era of influence and power exerted by the nobility and aristocracy under the auspices of decaying monarchies. Yet, this is probably the best I have read so far. Narrated by one who has inherited the outcome of such events, it depicts several aspects of Sicilian life which establish distinctions with the rest of the Italians and the transition between the decorum of a comfortable, nonchalant aristocratic way-of-life to dealing with the "people" now being in charge. While some characters adapt more or less to the changes (from the opportunistic Tancredo to the moderate compromises of the Leopard himself), others cling desperately to the past, like the three sisters. The last event of the book (the tossing of the decrepit pelt of Bendico by Concetta) symbolises the resigned acceptance from the old aristocracy that times have changed and that the current time is no longer theirs. Must read.
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I have mixed feelings about this novel. The quality of the writing was much better than his widely known and not-so-controversial novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover. It provides a pretty faithful portrait of some of the deep Mexican traits, just as described in The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz, which I am glad to have read previously. However, the pace of the novel is extremely slow; the subject matter required it to be slow, but Lawrence pushed it a bit too much on some parts. Kate, as a character, was exasperating because you felt you never knew what she wanted and was always saying 'no' and yielding to do the exact opposite in the next paragraph. This behaviour kept on until the very last sentence of the novel, in a disappointing and eye-rolling predictable ending. I still keep hope that he has better stuff on offer.
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This is one of the great rewards of undertaking the task of reading our way through the List: discovering unexpected and fairly unknown pearls like this novel. Bentinho Santiago, nicknamed Dom Casmurro, proceeds to write his memoirs out of boredom, but also to disclose to some extent why he has received this nickname. It is a love story told by an unreliable narrator, partially blinded by jealousy. The ending is ambiguous and we can only guess what the truth was. I loved the wit exuding on many of the usually small chapters, the size of which provide an interesting reading pace. Quite original for the era and quite fitting the South American style of writing we encounter from Garcia Marquez, for example. Looking forward to reading Bras Cubas.
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This novella is characteristic of many stories written by Russian novelists during the 19th century: strong, passionate characters initiating or being victim of an irrational and almost unbelievable transformation. Here, a narrator relates the story of the feared giant Martin Petrovitch Kharlov who suffers such a transformation after bequeathing his assets between his two daughters. While I enjoyed the story, I would need to (finally) read Shakespeare in order to fully appreciate the reference to King Lear...
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Chicago, after WWII. In the underbelly of the city, we follow the struggles of 2nd and 3rd generation Polish migrants, some who fought in the war, some with drug addiction, many frequent visitors of the local jails; Frank Majcinek aka Frankie Machine aka The Man with the Golden Arm fits all three categories. Expert card dealer, dice roller and pool player, he also tries to shake off addictions to alcohol and morphine, but did not succeed in the end. This could read pretty much like the sequel of The Jungle from Upton Sinclair, both in plot continuation and in readability; it is pretty slow going, full of criminal lingo, it took me more than 50 pages to get my bearings and to start appreciate the story. But at least it was better than The Jungle...
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True, it is a nice story, a bit of Job in reverse, which finishes rather well. But it failed at being enthralling, more on the "meh" side. A case where small is better does not work: I prefer Middlemarch.
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Up front, I will say that I like this much more than The Great Gatsby; it felt not necessarily more "believable", but more tangible. Further, I liked the way in which he broke the chronology of the story and the different points of view, you could truly feel the story being turned down at a pivotal point, so much so that it changed my point of view about the characters. The setting and the psychiatric themes reminded me a lot of the Anais Nin journals written at about the same era.
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A sad and sordid slow descent for a kid from a dysfunctional family in country Ireland. It is probably the closest you can get to experience and understand a worsening and self-destructive mental condition. Crude and rude, but there was no other way this could have been written. Finally, a contemporary Irish novelist that I don't end up hating.
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Maximalist novels, in my experience, have a tendency of being too excessive and redundant in order to convey the messages it aims to express. Not Infinite Jest. Yes, it is huge, structurally complex, chronologically exploded, multi-plotted, formally and fancifully erudite, and challenging as a maximalist novel should be. But this satire about the pursuit of happiness is woven around a set of pertinent and related sub-themes, which are highlighted and reinforced subtly throughout each passage or footnote. Despite its hugeness, the novel bubbles with meaning and is not just excessive and redundant. It takes about 50 pages to get your bearings and patience never had a better price. I laughed, I cringed, I laughed again, and I thought. I also had a personal, selfish pleasure at enjoying the involvement of Quebec and its political issues in one of the main sub-plots. I am glad I have read this in 2017, because the United States are eerily similar to the O.N.A.N. described in the book. Or, at least, it seems to be on the same path. Maybe we have to learn a thing or two from the Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents (sic) or DFW himself.
A coming-of-age novel, outlining how it was to grow up as a boy in Guinea back in the 30s and 40s. There were several little interesting aspects to this novel, such as the combination of traditional rites within an Islamic environment. But in terms of novels addressing the passage from a colonial/tribal state to the integration into a "civilized"/occidental society, I think that Achebe and Dangaremgba were much better. Cute, but not really exciting.