What are you currently reading?

[Drasko]

Million Dollar Game, the 60-something episode of Modesty Blaise is one of the first upon the return of Eric Badia Romero, my least favorite artist to draw Modesty, but unfortunately the one to draw the most. By this time the series became pretty routine, glory days of groundbreaking Jim Holdaway beginnings were long gone, so was the refreshing Neville Colvin run. Still one of my all-time favorite pop heroines.

Along with Trondheim's Lapinot, Sfar/Trondheim Donjon series (universe more precisely, with three parallel story lines and two off-shot series) is probably the best of what the current wave of authors of bande dessinée can offer. Apart from main writers Sfar and Trondheim it includes as artists many of the best known French comic authors: Larcenet, Blain, Kerascoët ...  I like it but time will tell can it stand along the classics as Gaston, Spirou et Fantasio, Asterix, Lucky Luke or Iznogoud.

[NikF]

Mann: The Magic Mountain.

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A reread due to us having most of our stuff packed away.

[André]

One of the most important and enigmatic books written in the last century. Very much Mahler7ish. One of my top 10 books ever.

[Jo498]

I found "Der Zauberberg" somewhat enigmatic and struggled with several chapters when I first read it with about 19. When I re-read it with 27 or 28 I discovered it to be highly readable and often very funny. There are a few strange chapters (and many allusions) where it helps to have some commentary or background but overall this is not that necessary. That second reading is now again 16 or more years in the past...
(I seem to live on some magic mountain where time somehow passes too fast - I am now more than ten years older than Hans is when he leaves for the war - so I do not know how I would like it/rate it today. But it is a very great book (and, as I said, fairly readable, compared to e.g. Ulysses or similar stuff).

[André]

The humour in Mann's works comes at the least predictable moments. Whether in Die Buddenbrooks, where he mocks an accent in the funniest way, or in Zauberberg (some of the entretiens between Settembrini and "the Jew Naphta") or even - in many instances - in his mammoth saga Joseph und seine Brüder (most often in relationship with the mischievious Jakob). This is the sign a master storyteller.

[Jo498]

I never got into the Joseph books (read about half of one of them). The humor in "The magic mountain" is often very dark because (unlike Hans) many of the inhabitants are actually moribund. E.g. quite soon after Hans arrives he meets a group of people some of which can whistle in a way that only works (and demonstrates) their defective lungs. This is both hilarious and spine-chilling.

[Drasko]

Elias Canetti - Masse und Macht (Crowds and Power)

[Bogey]

So far, fantastic!

[ritter]

Stefan Zweig's loving tribute to the land in which he found shelter:

[Florestan]

Stefan Zweig's loving tribute to the land in which he found shelter:

He seems to have had second thoughts about Brazil´s (and the whole world´s, for that matter) future, though... 

[ritter]

He seems to have had second thoughts about Brazil´s (and the whole world´s, for that matter) future, though...

ndeed, it is striking that only months after having written this panegyric on Brazil, Zweig fell into the depression that led to such a tragic outcome for him and his wife. Yet, I'd say the source of that depression was the news from Europe rather than anything related to his country of exile. AFAIK the reaction of other émigrés--mainly in the US--to this double suicide was one of disgust at what was perceived as an act of cowardice in those dark times. All very sad (but none of that be sensed in this book, which is a pleasant and entertaining read).

[Artem]

Haven't posted here in a while. Here are some books that I read since my last post. Yes was a favorite of the bunch.

[SimonNZ]

[Super Blood Moon]

My first Rex Stout novel.

[Karl Henning]

My first Rex Stout novel.

Which one?

Philosophically, as a fan of the Timothy Hutton/Maury Chaykin series, I am ready to take the plunge.

I want to consult my brother, who is my Stout expert . . . .

[Super Blood Moon]

Which one?

Philosophically, as a fan of the Timothy Hutton/Maury Chaykin series, I am ready to take the plunge.

I want to consult my brother, who is my Stout expert . . . .

I always begin at the beginning.

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[Karl Henning]

Excellent.

[Jo498]

Having read about 80% or so of the Nero Wolfe books since last summer, I'd also recommend to start at the beginning although overall the order is not terribly important. The first two are a little lengthy, but certainly not bad and have most of the standard features. I hit "Some buried Caesar" accidentally as the first one and this is one of the best ones (and also introduces an important minor character). The other pre-war books:
The Rubber Band
The Red Box
Too Many Cooks
Some Buried Caesar
Over My Dead Body
are all essential, I'd say. "Too many Cooks" is also one that especially highlights Wolfe's obsession with food and one of the few where he leaves his house. (These are often more entertaining because the "routine" can get sometimes a little tedious, especially if one reads them at a rate of about one per week or so.)

[Karl Henning]

Thanks

[André]

Author Imre Kertesz died this week. Nobel Prize in 2002. Anybody knows his oeuvre ?