What are you currently reading?

[ritter]

First approach to the work of Roland Barthes, with his Mythologies (from 1957).



I remember my mother reading (and talking admiringly of)  Barthes almost 50 years ago now. So far, quite interesting in its analysis of the creation of modern myths.

[Papy Oli]

In the last fortnight:

- Completed "The Honjin Murders" by Seishi Yokomizo. Eventually a well written whodunit, een if a bit tenuous and a sluggish start.

- Also read and completed The third volume oF Edna O'Brien's trilogy The Country Girls, i.e. "Girls in their Married Bliss". Told from the perspective, mostly, of the other girl, Baba (instead of Kate in the first two parts), This remained a bleak but gripping journey. Thank god for the occasional flippant and sarcastic remarks by Baba to lighten the tone at rare times. Yet, a trilogy that shall stay with me for a long while and is therefore recommended.

- "Amsterdam" by Ian McEwan - Ok-ish thriller of sorts in the journalistic/political world involving three former lovers of a famous writer/artist. Got this as an entry point to Ian McEwan as it won a Booker Prize but was left a bit underwhelmed. Subsequently read some reviews that thought that they couldn't have chosen a worse book of his for a prize..    What else would you recommended ? "Atonement" maybe? Anything else ?

- At the moment, about a quarter of the way through "La fortune des Rougon" by Zola. So far so good but I have spent some time on the wiki pages (and will do some more) of the French historical situation of that period to have a sense of the context of the book/cycle. 

[San Antone]

The last fifth of Huck Finn is just one big sadistic game played at Jim's expense. I think even Hemingway commented on it. Otherwise it's excellent.

Twain interrupted the writing of Finn for a number of years, six or more, and the change in tone/style is obvious.  For me the book could have ended with Huck's decision to "go to hell" instead of doing what he was taught as the right thing to do, i.e. inform the authorities about Jim and have him returned.   

This moment in the book is for me the apogee of American literature up until the time of its writing, and as far as I am concerned nothing written (from the USA) since is better.

But I don't read current fiction; I just keep re-reading the great books of the past I love: Twain, Faulkner, and the most recent author for me is Cormac McCarthy (but not even his late career books).

[SimonNZ]

"For a decade Alice Sheldon produced an extraordinary body of work under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr, until her identity was exposed in 1977. HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER presents the finest of these stories and contains the NEBULA AWARD-winning LOVE IS THE PLAN THE PLAN IS DEATH; HUGO AWARD-winning novella THE GIRL WHO WAS PLUGGED IN; HOUSTON, HOUSTON, DO YOU READ? - winner of both the HUGO and NEBULA - and of course the story for which she is best known: THE WOMEN MEN DON''T SEE."