Reading the 20th Century discussion
Buddy Reads
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Buddy Reads
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Pamela
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Dec 07, 2021 02:26AM
I’m also a maybe for Ulysses, I’m tempted but I’ll wait to see how the year starts off before committing. I’m definitely in for the Bainbridge though.
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I'm also definitely in for the Bainbridge, don't think I will be for Ulysses.
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I'm sorry I'll be a bit slow to reply over the next few days.One chapter per week sounds fine to me!
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If you would like to discuss, please pop over to the tennis books thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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This is a follow-on to next month's group read, Didion's Play It as It Lays.
Blurb:
The first nonfiction work by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era, Slouching Towards Bethlehem remains, forty years after its first publication, the essential portrait of America— particularly California—in the sixties. It focuses on such subjects as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up a girl in California, ruminating on the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture.
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I suspect I will be willing and able to read it but want to retain some flexibility just in case
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Stefan Zweig's memoir, The World of Yesterday, recalls the golden age of pre-war Europe—its seeming permanence, its promise and its devastating fall. Through the story of his life, and his relationships with the leading literary figures of the day, Zweig's passionate, evocative prose paints a stunning portrait of an era that danced brilliantly on the brink of extinction.
This translation by the award-winning Anthea Bell captures the spirit of Zweig's writing in arguably his most important work, completed shortly before his death in a suicide pact with his wife in 1942.
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Hangsaman:
Natalie Waite, daughter of a mediocre writer and a neurotic housewife, is increasingly unsure of her place in the world. In the midst of adolescence she senses a creeping darkness in her life, which will spread among nightmarish parties, poisonous college cliques and the manipulations of the intellectual men who surround her, as her identity gradually crumbles.
Inspired by the unsolved disappearance of a female college student near Shirley Jackson's home, Hangsaman is a story of lurking disquiet and haunting disorientation.
The Missing Girl:
' "Of course, no one would want to say anything about a girl like this that's missing..." '
Malice, paranoia and creeping dread lie beneath the surface of ordinary American life in these chilling miniature masterworks of unease.
Contains:
- The Missing Girl
- Journey with a Lady
- Nightmare
I've enjoyed the three Shirley Jackson works I've read so I will join in on Hangsaman at least. But I couldn't find the 55p deal. Where is it?I did find it for 299p on Amazon
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Great to have you join us on Hangsaman - which are the other three you've read?
The Lottery (of course), We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Haunting of Hill House
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While Jackson lived at Bennington, it is said she was partially inspired by the story of Paula Jean Weldens disappearance in 1946 and also wrote a story linked to this, “The Missing Girl,” which I would like to read, to compare. There is also a true crime book about the case available: “Clueless in New England: the unsolved disappearances of Paula Welden, Connie Smith and Katherine Hull”, by Michael C. Dooling.
Hangsaman is setting in a barely disguised Bennington and is based largely upon her husband's work there at the time.
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Yes, should be interesting. looking forward to them.
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The radical dystopian classic, lost for forty years: in a nightmarish Britain, THEY are coming closer.
'A creepily prescient tale ... Insidiously horrifying!' Margaret Atwood
'A masterpiece of creeping dread.' Emily St. John Mandel
This is Britain: but not as we know it.
THEY begin with a dead dog, shadowy footsteps, confiscated books. Soon the National Gallery is purged; eerie towers survey the coast; mobs stalk the countryside destroying artworks - and those who resist.
THEY capture dissidents - writers, painters, musicians, even the unmarried and childless - in military sweeps, 'curing' these subversives of individual identity.
Survivors gather together as cultural refugees, preserving their crafts, creating, loving and remembering. But THEY make it easier to forget ...
Lost for half a century, newly introduced by Carmen Maria Machado, Kay Dick's They (1977) is a rediscovered dystopian masterpiece of art under attack: a cry from the soul against censorship, a radical celebration of non-conformity - and a warning.
This is from the Foyles email which prompted me to look: A rediscovered classic is one our favourite types of book, and the budding Faber Editions series has added another humdinger to their list: They, a slippy and speculative, slightly experimental dystopia from writer and editor (and once Foyles bookseller) Kay Dick. Forgotten for over forty years, They is a novel of artists and intellectuals in a Britain clamping down on creativity and difference—where books and paintings are confiscated, and individuals are ‘cured’ of identity. An eerie novel of dislocation and control, told in vignette-like chapters: well worth the rediscovery.
Anyone interested in a buddy read?
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"Have recently come across They
Anyone interested in a buddy read?"
Alwynne recently alerted me to it
I finished it a few weeks ago
The unsettling vibe of creeping dread, and the many provocative questions the story raises, would make it an interesting choice for a buddy read
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3/5
They (1977) by Kay Dick
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It's v quick to read and, despite the three stars, plenty to discuss as I mention above
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Despite finding it flawed, there's lots to discuss and it's a book rich in ideas and atmosphere. I may choose it for my own real world book group.
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Rated just over 4 stars on here:
Widely regarded as the best British painter since Turner, very little is known about Francis Bacon's life. In this, the first-ever book to be written about him, Daniel Farson, friend and confidant to Bacon for over forty years, gives a highly personal, first-hand account of the man as he knew him. From his sexual adventures to his rise from obscurity to international fame, Farson gives us unique insight into Bacon's genius.
I went to the intense and powerful Bacon exhibition at the RA this week (www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/fr...) which I'd highly recommend if you have the chance and came away desperate to know more about the man and artist.
Farson knew Bacon personally and was part of the Soho group - the book looks fascinating.
I see that we have started scheduling Buddy reads for July 2022. As I first mentioned during the Buddy read of Celia Fremlin's The Jealous One, I suggest the following Celia Fremlin buddy reads:1) July - Seven Lean Years (Fremlin #3)
2) September or October - The Trouble Makers (Fremlin #4)
Susan wanted to read her remaining Fremlins in order and Jill wanted to read The Trouble Makers having already read Seven Lean Years, which she considered a less than great Fremlin. I'm game to read more Fremlin and would like to read both books.
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The Trouble Makers is £7.50 on Kindle and also not in the library though I can see a second hand copy for £6 on eBay
I love Celia Fremlin but will keep an eye on prices before committing myself. I don't mind paying top dollar for books but with so many other books already purchased it does influence my decision making
Put me down as a maybe
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Not set up threads or added to the bookshelf though
Nigeyb wrote: "Very tempted but Seven Lean Years is a tenner for Kindle and more for physical, and not in my libraryThe Trouble Makers is £7.50 on Kindle and also not in the lib..."
In the U.S., Seven Lean Years is available only in the more expensive Faber edition:
while The Trouble Makers
is one of the major Fremlins that Faber has available in its cheaper edition. It is currently $6.35, over 50% off. on Amazon, but the cheapest I have found Seven Lean Years is $16.99.I just bought both books and anticipate more 'buddies' participating in The Trouble Makers read, including Nigeyb who, my crystal ball shows, will shell out the money for The Trouble Makers but not Seven Lean Years.
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:-)
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Susan has kindly listed them here including the novellas:
1. Slow Horses (2010)
2. Dead Lions (2013)
2.5. The List (2015)
2.6 Nobody Walks
3. Real Tigers (2016)
4. Spook Street (2017)
5. London Rules (2018)
5.5. The Drop (2018)
6. Joe Country (2019)
6.5. The Catch (2020)
7. Slough House (2021)
8. Bad Actors (2022)
We're thinking of taking them as a book every two months so it will take roughly two years, hopefully just in time for the next book.
Post here if you'd like to join us - and it's no problem if this is a first read for you.
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I've seen the posts discussing Herron and books like Bad Actors and had no idea of the books that you were talking about, deciding to slough it all off as a Brit thing. However, RC's post on the book series let's me know that the first book, Slow Horses, is the title of the new miniseries with Gary Olman and Olivia Cooke, so now I get what its all about. While I'm not sure that spy books are for me, LeCarre's books are just meh to me, I am attracted by this series' concept and that the series ratings get better after the first two. So a definite maybe
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which I have heard a lot about.A cagey British spy fights enemies from without and withinCharlie Muffin is an anachronism. He came into the intelligence service in the early 1950s, when the government, desperate for foot soldiers in the impending Cold War, dipped into the middle class for the first time. Despite a lack of upper-class bearing, Charlie survived twenty-five years on the espionage battle’s front line: Berlin. But times have changed: The boys from Oxford and Cambridge are running the shop again, and they want to get rid of the middle-class spy who’s a thorn in their side. They have decided that it’s time for Charlie to be sacrificed. But Charlie Muffin didn’t survive two decades in Berlin by being a pushover. He intends to go on protecting the realm, and won’t let anyone from his own organization get in his way. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.
If not, absolutely fine, I will just add it to my own personal reads, but thought while we were on a spy kick, someone might want to give it a go.
I have the Charlie Muffin books, so would be willing to give the first one a try
I’d be up for Charlie M too, sounds good
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