Where my mind's been, in 3 words each:
Catch-22: Laugh-out-loud, gasp-out-loud funny.
Cloud Atlas: Mesmerizing and virtuosic.
Death and the Penguin: Bracing post-Soviet humor.
The Fifty Year Sword: Alas, a disappointment.
Silas Marner: Short, moralizing, intelligent.
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha: A bewildering experience.
Housekeeping vs. the Dirt: Just goddamn delightful.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler: Successfully, brilliantly obnoxious.
Bring Up the Bodies: A stand-up sequel.
The Night Circus: Lovely love story.
People of the Book: Adequate, not great.
The Lost: Genuinely interesting quest.
The Sound and the Fury: WTF just happened?
Radioactive: Beautiful, evocative, educational.
The Fruit Hunters: Fascinating... who knew?
Cry, the Beloved Country: Over-lyrical but wrenching.
Mrs. Dalloway: Highly concentrated prose.
The Awakening: Inspired fury, empathy.
Possession: English majors, rejoice.
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door: Addictive as crack.
Invisible Cities: Grown-up bedtime stories.
The Possessed: Witty, clever and fun.
Changing My Mind: God, she's smart.
Light Boxes: Experimental, intriguing, wintry.
Olive Kitteridge: Just interesting enough.
I Knew You'd be Lovely: Well-crafted, soft-hearted stories.
What is the What: All-consuming non-fiction novel.
The Hunger Games: It's definitely readable.
Let the Great World Spin: Absolutely entrancing, heart-breaking.
The Dante Game: Not for me.
Saturday: Music! Neuroscience! Philosophy!
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Entertaining novelistic non-fiction.
The Last Werewolf: Intelligent, pulpy bloodbath.
The Sense of an Ending: Not all that.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: Just not good.
Waiting for the Barbarians: A captivating parable.
The Crying of Lot 49: Practically perfect Pynchon.
Super Sad True Love Story: Tiresome fantasy fulfillment.
A Visit from the Goon Squad: Great fun, well-done.
Descartes' Bones: Interesting; not profound.
Click: Trippy, weird, excellent.
And 11 recommendations:
Lit-nerd Must-Reads with easily-confused titles: The Possessed, Possession
Everybody Must-Reads with numbers in the title: The Crying of Lot 49, Catch-22
Long, Immersive Reads each featuring tangentially-connected stories: Cloud Atlas, Let the Great World Spin
Short, Smart Reads that take place in a single day: Saturday, Mrs. Dalloway
And in the category of Nick Hornby, Take All My Money Already: Housekeeping vs. the Dirt
Daunting list. I am daunted. I hated The Crying of Lot 49. Somehow I could not follow it, but the 750 page books, I had no trouble with. Didn't I beg you 5 years ago to read Catch 22? Literally beg you? For your own sake? That book is so funny the author never made a good joke again after finishing it in his life. There were no jokes left. The same characters as Sound and the Fury return in Absolom, Absolom!, my personal favorite Faulkner. The whole book is a single sentence. Well, almost.
ReplyDeleteAnd I gave you Fruit Hunters. Or meant to. I also read "Descartes' Bones". How could anything live up to that title? I suggest "The Invention of Air", and "The Ghost Map" both by Steven Johnson.
ReplyDeleteyes indeed, you gave me fruit hunters and recommended catch-22 and, while it took me YEARS, I did finally read them! and you were, of course, so right
ReplyDeleteHearing you say that is all I ask. Now just read "The Recognitions" by William Gaddiss. Or "Life and Fate" by Vasily Grossman. Then I won't be the only person I know who has read my two favorite books.
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