Reading the 20th Century discussion

Thanks Judy for moving this somewhere more appropriate! I prefer the Bely to the Olesha but would read either.

I would also go for the Bely, but would read either. Have a great, literary love for Russia.

Feb? I am not planning on reading the Rhys, which is the only buddy planned for that month so far. As the Bely is fairly long, I will try not to suggest any more!

Bely for me, too. As it's long - 600+ pages - maybe we could do weekly sections as we did with The Magic Mountain?

Weekly sections would work well for me, and already read the Rhys so not planning on joining that either.

I am reading the Rhys but it's short so don't see a problem with doing Bely in February.

Sounds great, thanks to all of you! Shall we say starting in February and I'll draw up weekly sections?

We may end up reading different editions/translations, as Alwynne has pointed out that there is a newer Pushkin Press edition which is also full text - I think some earlier editions were based on a massively shortened version.

That's great I'll make a note!!

I can see the Pushkin Press won an award, so seems to be the one to go for - however, it isn't available on kindle and is fairly expensive, so will see nearer the time.

I may stick with the Penguin as it is on Kindle and looks like a nice edition, but nice to have the choice.

I have the Penguin too but it can be interesting to be reading different translations.

Susan, would you be able to add Petersburg to the list of reads for February when you have a chance? Just realised if I do it I will lose all the GR links to all the other books. Thank you. :)

No problem. I'll do it now.

Thank you, Susan.

Pushkin Press emailed about a new title. The Decagon House Murders

There are old editions, I think, but it sounds great. Anyone up for a buddy read?

A classic Japanese murder mystery inspired by the golden age of British crimewriting

'A brilliant and richly atmospheric puzzle... a jaw-dropping but logical reveal' Publishers Weekly

The lonely, rockbound island of Tsunojima is notorious as the site of a series of bloody unsolved murders. Some even say it's haunted. One thing's for sure: it's the perfect destination for the K- University Mystery Club's trip.

But when the first club member turns up dead, the remaining amateur sleuths realise they will need all of their murder-mystery expertise to get off the island alive.

As the party are picked off one by one, the survivors grow desperate and paranoid, turning on each other. Will anyone be able to untangle the murderer's fiendish plan before it's too late?

Alwynne is interested, but we haven't set a date just yet. Jan/Feb/March next year are fairly empty. Anyone else keen?

I have scheduled The Decagon House Murders for February, alongside Petersburg

Alwynne and I are planning a buddy read of a very unusual travel book, Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao, . Thinking of doing this one in April - is anyone else tempted? It has been recently published in translation for the first time by Bloomsbury and is on Kindle.

There's a good article about the book on the TLS site which describes how closely the author became involved in desert life and how she worked with local people:
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/st...

This is the Amazon blurb. It was first published in 1976 but has only now been translated. Many thanks to Alwynne for mentioning this one as I hadn't previously heard of it.

The book that has captivated millions of Chinese readers, translated into English for the very first time.

'Hypnotic . . . A record of one person's fierce refusal to follow a path laid down for her by the rest of the world' Tash Aw, Paris Review Books of the Year

Sanmao: author, adventurer, pioneer. Born in China in 1943, she moved from Chongqing to Taiwan, Spain to Germany, the Canary Islands to Central America, and, for several years in the 1970s, to the Sahara.

Stories of the Sahara invites us into Sanmao's extraordinary life in the desert: her experiences of love and loss, freedom and peril, all told with a voice as spirited as it is timeless.

At a period when China was beginning to look beyond its borders, Sanmao fired the imagination of millions and inspired a new generation. With an introduction by Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti, this is an essential collection from one of the twentieth century's most iconic figures.

'Every story conveys Sanmao's infectious capacity for wonder' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

'Has endured for generations of young Taiwanese and Chinese women' New York Times

'Ground-breaking' Geographical

'A remarkable and brave book. Sanmao was a freewheeling feminist who broke all the rules and did so with a gleeful, mischievous smile' David Eimer, South China Morning Post

Judy wrote: "Alwynne and I are planning a buddy read of a very unusual travel book, Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao"

The reviews are very fulsome

I'll have to see how I'm fixed when the time comes

I've added Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao to our Complete Overview of All RTTC Books...

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

Thank you for adding the book to the reading list , Nigeyb.

I am really trying not to get drawn into too many buddy reads, so will depend upon my reading schedule at the time, but it looks very interesting, Judy.

Susan wrote: "I am really trying not to get drawn into too many buddy reads...."

Good luck with that, Susan! I always say the same... but then... ;)

Ooh, looks tempting - great choice, Judy and Alwynne.

Judy wrote: "Susan wrote: "I am really trying not to get drawn into too many buddy reads...."

Good luck with that, Susan! I always say the same... but then... ;)"

I know, I know...

Adina and I have been chatting about a buddy read of Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald. We haven't fixed a date, probably late spring/early summer 2021 - who else is interested?

I was blown away by my first Sebald this year - The Rings of Saturn, and my pleasure and understanding were certainly enhanced by our discussions while reading.

Austerlitz, the internationally acclaimed masterpiece by “one of the most gripping writers imaginable” (The New York Review of Books), is the story of a man’s search for the answer to his life’s central riddle. A small child when he comes to England on a Kindertransport in the summer of 1939, one Jacques Austerlitz is told nothing of his real family by the Welsh Methodist minister and his wife who raise him. When he is a much older man, the fleeting memories return to him, and obeying an instinct he only dimly understands, he follows their trail back to the world he left behind a half century before. There, faced with the void at the heart of twentieth-century Europe, he struggles to rescue his heritage from oblivion.

Tempted? Come join us!

Very tempted but already feeling overcommitted but....


....what the heck, I'm in!

Excellent - I'd hoped you'd be up for this. Just think of it as a date with a book you intended to read at some point anyway :)

We're leaving the timing vague, will firm up in the New Year.

Oh that sounds really interesting! I’m on a book buying freeze and my library doesn’t have it, but I’m going to recommend it and if it gets purchased I’ll participate.

I’ll be on a book buying freeze from January, so I’ve bought it today so that I can join in!

Ooh, sneaky, Pamela - I like it!

Good to have you and Bronwyn join us :)

It is a book I would like to reread so I could be tempted.

I'm a possible as I liked his previous book that we read a lot.

Excellent, Hugh and Judy, too - how nice to see so much love for Sebald.

Yey, glad more people are joining. I am waiting for my copy bought from Book Depository. It was dispatched two weeks ago but I hope with the Covid-19, Brexit and Romanian Post nightmare I will get it sometimes next year. Fingers crossed. :)) Meanwhile, Happy New Year, everybody!

Later Edit: A beautiful edition of the novel?! waited for me at home so I am ready to go. I can do the buddy read anytime but I would like to avoid March-May because of the International Booker Prize. It is the only prize I am really interested to follow so I am not sure I will have the time then.

P.S. Along with Austerlitz I also got Satantango. If anyone wants to join me into the darkness of the Hungarian author's mind let me know.

Adina wrote: "I can do the buddy read anytime but I would like to avoid March-May because of the International Booker Prize"

We have various buddy reads scheduled for January and February already so how about June or July for Austerlitz? Would that suit everyone?

Roman Clodia wrote:


"Adina wrote: "June or July for Austerlitz?"

Fine by me

I've put Austerlitz on the schedule for June 2021


We can change the date if anyone would prefer a different month

Excellent, thank you!

I've posted in a couple of other threads but just checking who else would be interested in a buddy read of Moon Tiger?

Also, as a reminder, any members can suggest a buddy read and we'd be happy to set up a thread if others are keen to join in.

I would be interested if it is scheduled from August onwards. I voted for Moon Tiger but I also own and plan to read Troubles with the group in July.

Excellent, Adina. No problem to schedule it for, say, mid-August. I've set up a thread and we can agree the timing there:

www.goodreads.com/topic/show/21966088...

I am looking forward to Troubles too, Adina, but also want to read Moon Tiger.

As runner-up in this month's poll, Picnic at Hanging Rock seems to have many of us keen to read it: who else would be interested in a buddy read?

I'm in for Moon Tiger too, thanks.

I'd read Picnic. And Moon Tiger :)

Roman Clodia wrote: "As runner-up in this month's poll, Picnic at Hanging Rock seems to have many of us keen to read it: who else would be interested in a buddy read?"

Definitely, one of those novels that I always think I've read but realise I'm thinking of the screen versions, somewhere online the original ending of the novel is available btw but maybe best avoided until afterwards.

Has there been more than one screen adaptation? I only know Peter Weir’s classic 1975 version which is etched in my mind despite not having viewed it for decades

Alwynne wrote: "... somewhere online the original ending of the novel is available btw but maybe best avoided until afterwards"

Oh, are there different endings? Excellent! Sounds like a good topic to discuss. I've seen the recent-ish TV series with Natalie Dormer but understand the old Peter Weir film is a classic.

When Judy is around we can fix a date, probably autumn.

The TV version passed me by. Is it any good?

Nigeyb wrote: "Has there been more than one screen adaptation? I only know Peter Weir’s classic 1975 version which is etched in my mind despite not having viewed it for decades"

Our posts crossed but yes there was the recent (2018) TV series - it's on Prime if you have that? I loved it.