DL Literary: What are you reading? Any recommendations?

Can't put it down

Was that something you found in the Humor Section, R1?

SPQR by Mary Beard. I am fascinated by ancient Roman history, and Mary Beard is an engaging and hugely knowledgeable guide to this vast subject.

Wow, no thank you by Samantha Irby. I love her writing style and sense of humor.

Literary what, OP?

I'm reading this thanks to a DL recommendation. Loving it!

DEFOE: A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR.

The feel-good hit of the summer of 1722

Topical, R7.

^^ And eye-opening. I've read it before.

The Ox-Bow Incident.

It's a western, but it's not really a western. It's just a damn good novel -- one of the best I've read recently.

I just reread Rebecca by DL’s favorite literary lez, Daphne du Maurier. So good! But My Cousin Rachel is even better.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.

This actually lives up to the hype (the book has hoovered up a metric ton of literary awards). The prose is stunning - laced with anger, sadness, gratitude and an almost psychedelic optimism. The words float off the page. Basically it's a stream of consciousness memoir presented as a series of letters to a Vietnamese immigrant mother from her son.

"On a Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux is his latest travel book. He drives (in 2017) to the Mexican border, drives from Tiajuana to the end of the border (Reynosa, Texas maybe) and then eventually with many good and some bad adventures (getting assaulted by crooked cops here and there) and interesting literary references to both Mexican and English speaking writers, he will end up at the very tip of Mexico at the Guatemalan border. People on Amazon complained about it, but I'm loving it (am a huge fan of his travel books, not his novels). At this point he has gotten as far south as Oaxaca, I place I've been (15 years ago). Highly recommend.

Christopher Bollen, "A Beautiful Crime." Very entertaining. "The Aspern Papers" Meets "The Talented Mr. Ripley."

I reread H. G. Wells' "War of the Worlds," then listened again to the Orson Welles radio adaptation and watched my DVD of the Jeff Wayne musical version featuring DL favorite Liam Neeson. All three are brilliant in their own ways and interesting reflections on their own times. H.G. Wells was imagining what it must have been like for inhabitants of a preindustrial civilization like Tasmania to be invaded by a technologically advanced one. The Orson Welles broadcast clearly reflects what was on people's minds in the run up to World War II and Jeff Wayne's 1978 adaptation was clearly made for a British audience for which the Blitz was still a living memory.

I'm doing my best to slog through "The Golden Bowl," by Henry James. I understand it was over a hundred years ago that he wrote this. I understand times were different. That doesn't make him any less of a complete torturer. There are pages where he makes Proust look like a brilliant Jay Leno monologue. And this isn't the only time he's done this. "The Portrait of a Lady" is another example. I swear, if he was alive, I'd write him a letter and call him a snob, just a cotton pickin' British subject wannabe snob.

His favourite subject matter seems to be adultery. So, in 1904, adultery was a big deal, even to be condemned by religious weeklies on the 'do not read or you'll go to hell' page. It's just that he is so fucking smug about the whole thing.

Rant over. If anybody is looking for a sensational thriller, I'd recommend Tara Isabella Burton's "Social Creature." It'll blow your La Croix sox off, sweeties darling.

^^If you can find it online, take a look at his "travel book", THE AMERICAN SCENE. One of the last things he wrote, and by that point his sentences had become so baroque that it is literally incomprehensible at times; the sentences just don't make sense. You'll swear you're reading some part of FINNEGANS WAKE.

Streaming is where it's at. Reading is SO 1977.

R16, why continue reading it if you don’t like it? Reading shouldn’t be a chore. There are lots of books, including classics, that are enjoyable to read.

I'm rereading the Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin (Master and Commander) series, i think there are twenty in all. These are the finest historical novels ever written. Never in a million years would I have been interested but for the recommendation from a loved and very respected friend. At first glance, these books are about a friendship between a Royal Navy captain and his ship's surgeon, but that is just scratching the surface. These books really cover the gamut of human existence during that time. There are incredibly detailed and accurate descriptions of the food and drink of the time, the clothing, the relationships between classes both on sea and land, politics, international intrigue, family life, love, infideltiy, success and failure, camaraderie, the friends and enemies you make along the way, and so much more. There is both humor and heartbreak. O'Brian also makes mention of the existence of homosexuality within the Navy, of which many of his characters are surprisingly tolerant even though it was a capital offense at that time. In one of my favorite passages, surgeon Stephen M. is admonishing a stoutish Captain Aubrey to mind his health in this heat. Unfortunately, this takes place in front of the horrified ships crew, including grizzled old Mr. Marshall, who is utterly smitten with the yellow-haired captain:

'You portly men of a sanguine complexion often die suddenly, from unconsidered exertion in the heat. Apoplexy--congestion.'

'I wish, I wish you would not say things like that, Doctor,' said Jack, in a low tone: they all looked at Stephen with some reproach and Jack added, 'Besides, I am not portly.'

'The captain has an uncommon genteel figgar,' said Mr. Marshall."

Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell

r16: Henry James later novels are impenetrable. I do think I read the Golden Bowl many years ago but it is a torture. I know I had to read the Ambassadors for a class, which while a late one and difficult, I managed to read without feeling like I was in James jail. I was an English major back in the day at at that time many years ago James was de rigeur. By comparison, Portrait of a Lady is easy-peasy. I think his best writing are his novellas--WASHINGTON SQUARE / THE ASPERN PAPERS / THE PUPIL / THE TURN OF THE SCREW / THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE. What Maisie Knew was made into a contemporary film a few years ago and was very good (it's more of a full length novel. Also the Princess Cassamassima (love that title). Why torture yourself. Thanks for the thriller rec--will immediately see if it's on Libby app. (Am trying not to buy books these days).

R21, when I’ve finished my current book, next up is the Mirror and The Light. Hilary Mantel writes beautifully and vividly.