So much good writing and so many admirable pieces but, honestly, I find it all a bit involved, with motivations perhaps needlessly obscure. Still flasSo much good writing and so many admirable pieces but, honestly, I find it all a bit involved, with motivations perhaps needlessly obscure. Still flashes of absolute brilliance and a rather heart pounding ending....more
A very minor Greene. Rife with the stereotypes of the time (published in 1932), particularly as respects the Jewish protagonist, Myatt, and a butch leA very minor Greene. Rife with the stereotypes of the time (published in 1932), particularly as respects the Jewish protagonist, Myatt, and a butch lesbian, Mabel Watson. As regards the Jew, I think Greene thinks he’s being sympathetic but he can’t get away from very heavy-handed tropes that will make any Jewish reader’s skin crawl (probably most others as well). And yet at the same time I wouldn’t do away with such books (I know there is a trend towards retroactively correcting the bigotry of history) - both Green’s wry sketching of his Jewish protagonist’s foibles and his chilling depiction of the casual and vicious bigotry that Myatt confronts throughout his journey are a part of the cultural record I’d rather be aware of (there’s one scary scene set in a Serbian forest, in which Myatt notes that the “old� attitudes of Jew hatred have not died out in the backwaters of Europe, ringing a tragic note of foreshadowing (again 1932)).
Greene’s writing never doesn’t have energy and he never doesn’t bring his characters to life. It’s just that it’s all a bit slight except for the caricatures and as noted, those are more edifying as artifact than they are fun to read....more
A lovely quiet chronicle of a biracial gay actor growing up through the 2nd half of the 20 Century and into our own. Along the way, Hollinghurst conveA lovely quiet chronicle of a biracial gay actor growing up through the 2nd half of the 20 Century and into our own. Along the way, Hollinghurst conveys, as he often does so well, the changing political and social landscape of England from the post-war years to the present morning. The book is episodic but its emotional intensity is accretive, and as always Hollinghurst's prose is exquisite. ...more
I loved Out of Egypt so much when I read it, and of course, Call me By Your Name, and Rome is one of my absolute favorite places on Earth, so I had hiI loved Out of Egypt so much when I read it, and of course, Call me By Your Name, and Rome is one of my absolute favorite places on Earth, so I had high hopes for My Roman Year.
While there is still great writing here, and the depictions of Aciman's family in diaspora are fantastic as are his Italian neighbors - so many characters sketched so well in just a few lines, we spend too much time with Aciman himself, who during his Roman year, is a somewhat self-obsessed teenage boy. Thus, in the way of brainy insecure teenagers everywhere, Aciman holds himself at a disdainful remove from his surroundings, both personal and physical, only opening to Rome and his neighbors when he's on the verge of departure. This feeling of being locked in Aciman's brain during a solipsistic stage of life makes the book seem longer than it is. ...more
This is a tough James to love - none of the main characters are likeable, and while one (Verena) is only a cipher, the other two, Olive Chancellor andThis is a tough James to love - none of the main characters are likeable, and while one (Verena) is only a cipher, the other two, Olive Chancellor and Basil Ransom, are pretty actively dislikeable. James is never terse, so this is quite a lot of time to spend in a static love triangle where sour Olive and smarmy conceited Basil battle for the beautiful but susceptible Verena. Some of the minor characters are far more engaging (I'm looking at you, Dr. Prance), and if Henry has a favorite in this book I'd guess it's this independent minded but non-doctrinaire woman.
The rest is satirizing on Bostonian do-gooders and idealists, especially feminists, and the retrograde secessionist who swans about being smugly superior and priding himself on the fact that, although he is to all outwards appearances a failure, he's still got one up on Olive because he has a d*** (you can practically hear Ransome thinking aloud that "a lesbian is just a woman who hasn't met the right man yet"). James' satire is a little too misanthropic (and misogynist) here to be much fun.
There's a certain macabre joke here in that the tiresome political types of the late 19th century seem snatched from today's (tiresome) headlines. Olive's insistence on ideological purity (and no fun) finds its match in the current moment's more doctrinaire woke liberals and as for Basil, well, I don't think he'd be so uncouth as to wear a MAGA hat or tweet "your body, my choice" (after all, Southern chivalry), he's certainly thought those things while watching Joe Rogan and "doing his own research."...more
A winding mystery with a host of characters, spanning generations. It could have definitely used some tightening - I wouldn't say that you'll be turniA winding mystery with a host of characters, spanning generations. It could have definitely used some tightening - I wouldn't say that you'll be turning pages to find out whodunit but the writing is nice and unobtrusive, and it was a perfect escape from the headlines. ...more
Incredible sense of place and time. Pylvainen takes us above the Arctic Circle into the midst of the 19th century, when the Sami people were still in Incredible sense of place and time. Pylvainen takes us above the Arctic Circle into the midst of the 19th century, when the Sami people were still in the process of losing their lands and their way of life. Unlike much of what passes for historical fiction these days, The End of Drum-Time feels wholly persuasive. And while everything is incredibly well-researched, Pylvanien lets the book tell its own story. While that story may start slow, tension builds and it eventually becomes heartbreakingly unputdownable. A host of well-drawn characters. Really unique and beautiful....more
I'd never heard of Ursula Parrott before last week, but this book blew me away. A sad, funny, perceptive, occasionally searing slice of life in New YoI'd never heard of Ursula Parrott before last week, but this book blew me away. A sad, funny, perceptive, occasionally searing slice of life in New York City of the 1920s. A thoroughly original and thoroughly believable female voice. I found this book revelatory - the 1920s was long ago (WW1 is a pervasive backdrop, prohibition reigns, you can still take a horse-drawn carriage around the city if you want to) and yet the modernity of it all was striking (abortion, date rape, working women, gender dynamics). From a pleasure perspective, ah New York of yesterday- Parrott is very detailed and concrete in her place setting, and to those of us who love such things, drinks, clothes, meals, bars, restaurants, apartments - it's almost cinema verite. Her voice is original and memorable. If Fitzgerald's women were idealized or tormented, this is the Jazz Age protofeminist answer to all of that. Just read this, it won't take long, and you'll thank me, I promise....more
I gave up. The insane anachronisms (electric bulbs! discovery of novel viruses! a kerfuffle over an unlicensed gun!) in 1854 Constantinople almost kilI gave up. The insane anachronisms (electric bulbs! discovery of novel viruses! a kerfuffle over an unlicensed gun!) in 1854 Constantinople almost killed me, but there were hosts of other clunkers, including Turkish street urchins quoting “the Bard� in English- the apparent lingua franca in Constantinople(eye roll). Then, beyond that, the leaden expository dialogue and improbable plotting drove me batty. Maybe if I read to the end I’d discover some time travel twist that explains this mess but it comes off as lazy sloppiness. Don’t!...more
A gentle sad book about two Irish immigrants in London from 1979 to 1917. For different reasons both lead lives that don’t go anywhere although there A gentle sad book about two Irish immigrants in London from 1979 to 1917. For different reasons both lead lives that don’t go anywhere although there are moments of connection and redemption. Some lovely writing and great audiobook narration. ...more
Sometimes I see the category "literary fiction" and wonder what that really means - isn't all fiction literature and therefore literary? I suppose it Sometimes I see the category "literary fiction" and wonder what that really means - isn't all fiction literature and therefore literary? I suppose it distinguishes genre fiction - some of which I quite enjoy (spy thrillers, mysteries, and horror, among other things). But it also, I think, distinguishes good books from whatever this bad and overlong book is (fantasy, I guess)- because while this is certainly fiction, there is nothing literary about it.
The Life Impossible often felt like something Chat GPT would have come up with the cue "write a novel about a 73 old woman, aliens and property developers on Ibiza, and give it heavy handed environmental themes (without having anything fresh to say on that topic) and make it 300 pages long." Or "Take Richard Powers' work and distill the message into simple sentences with magic thrown in for people who would rather be clubbing on Ibiza."
No need to go on about the plodding prose, or about the fact that the author does not do a very good job of imagining what it feels like to be a woman (or 73, I would guess - the book's heroine begins every sentence with "I'm 73, I'm too old for that" before doing whatever that is), or about the way Ibiza is both idealized and stripped of any salient characteristics other than goats and hippies.
I did not read the Midnight Library and I am quite sure now that I would not enjoy it. Joanna Lumley's audio narration here, however, is quite game....more
Huge fan of the series and all of Jackson lamb’s lines were being said in Gary Oldman’s voice as I read this. A wonderful handful of hours for those wHuge fan of the series and all of Jackson lamb’s lines were being said in Gary Oldman’s voice as I read this. A wonderful handful of hours for those who love the show. Good old fashioned pacy taut spy business. Not 100% convinced I would’ve entirely followed the plot � there are a lot of quick cuts- if I hadn’t seen this one on TV first. ...more
3.5 Very beautifully written. And I am just overjoyed to read about a debut novelist over 80 - I just love that idea so much! Some very interesting ch3.5 Very beautifully written. And I am just overjoyed to read about a debut novelist over 80 - I just love that idea so much! Some very interesting character studies too, and I particularly enjoyed that, perhaps unsurprisingly, Campbell has no trouble bringing to life the lives and loves of those in the 2nd half of life. I just found it a bit repetitive and slight such that it dragged.even though it was quite short. ...more
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