What are you currently reading?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

To me Mishima is a kind of writer that I would try to read everything he published.

Somehow, Mishima' s works lie beyond whether or not you like them. If you want to know Japanese literature, or just literature, you must read some of his works. It seems to me, even a majority of readers who dislike him admit Mishima's talent in elegance, delicacy, structure, paradox, etc. Are his works likable/acceptable? That's a totally different thing.

Enjoyed your review.

+1. Nice and insightful review.

[vers la flamme]

Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep



A classic hardboiled mystery. This is my first time reading anything like this. Really enjoying it so far. The insights of the cynical protagonist are often quite hilarious. I might have to read some more Chandler in the near future. These Vintage Crime/Black Lizard editions look excellent.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Now reading Botchan (Young Master) by Soseki Natsume. A straight-talking, hot-headed and honest young man of upperclass family in Tokyo goes to a rural and unsophisticated area in Japan to teach at a high school (it's like an upperclass young guy in Boston going to a village in Mississippi). He fights with the people in the conservative, ridiculous, and corrupt system. He doesn't care if he will win the fight or not because he is--- "botchan." Hilarious and ironic.

Ed. Natsume was one of Glenn Gould's favorite writers.

https://www.peterowen.com/extract-damian-flanagan-introduction-to-the-three-cornered-world-by-natsume-soseki/

[aligreto]

Masterpieces of Maupassant





Over the last couple of months I have read this collection [English translation]. Maupassant was a very admirable author equally at home in the novel or in the short story. He was a progressive writer and was not adverse to tackling delicate subjects. I have enjoyed re-reading these works. There are wonderful characters ranging from farm hands to elite Parisian socialites and they all have their own story. Maupassant was, for me, a bit like Dickens in that he unveiled the under belly of an apparent civilized society. But human nature is human nature whenever or wherever it appears.

[vers la flamme]

Now reading Botchan (Young Master) by Soseki Natsume. A straight-talking, hot-headed and honest young man of upperclass family in Tokyo goes to a rural and unsophisticated area in Japan to teach at a high school (it's like an upperclass young guy in Boston going to a village in Mississippi). He fights with the people in the conservative, ridiculous, and corrupt system. He doesn't care if he will win the fight or not because he is--- "botchan." Hilarious and ironic.

Ed. Natsume was one of Glenn Gould's favorite writers.

https://www.peterowen.com/extract-damian-flanagan-introduction-to-the-three-cornered-world-by-natsume-soseki/

That was a fascinating read. I didn't know of the Soseki/Gould connection. I've been meaning to read Kokoro and I Am A Cat, but I'll have to add Botchan and The Three-Cornered World to that list. Haruki Murakami has also cited Soseki as his favorite Japanese author, and references to his works play a big role in Kafka on the Shore.

Edit: I ordered a copy of The Three-Cornered World, along with Yukio Mishima's Star, a novella that was recommended to me highly, and Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata. My obsession with Japanese literature continues! 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I haven't read Kusamakura (grass pillow), aka. The Three Cornered World. I will get a copy.  Usually, Kokoro, Botchan, and Cat are considered to be Natsume's major works in Japan, as well as the West. The first English translation of Kusamakura was published in the 1960s under the title, The Three Cornered World. This is the book Glenn Gould was obsessed with. Early in this century, a new edition by a reputed translator was published under the original title, Kusamakura. Unless the publisher (Penguin P.) was confident of its quality vis a vis the quality of older edition, they wouldn't have published the new edition. 


It seems to me, a few questions remain. Was Gould's well-known transformation partially or largely influenced by Natsume's art philosophy? Why did the significance of Kusamakura replace that of Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which I personally admire?

https://youtu.be/jvI5a3kZl0M

https://youtu.be/w9wjPMBNJXo

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Masterpieces of Maupassant





Over the last couple of months I have read this collection [English translation]. Maupassant was a very admirable author equally at home in the novel or in the short story. He was a progressive writer and was not adverse to tackling delicate subjects. I have enjoyed re-reading these works. There are wonderful characters ranging from farm hands to elite Parisian socialites and they all have their own story. Maupassant was, for me, a bit like Dickens in that he unveiled the under belly of an apparent civilized society. But human nature is human nature whenever or wherever it appears.

Well-said. I admire Maupassant's works, including his short stories.

The books in the pic look so cool and hip!

[aligreto]

The books in the pic look so cool and hip!

They were published by Heron Books. I have collected a lot of Heron Books over the years. They are well presented with that binding and feel good in the hand.

[vers la flamme]

I haven't read Kusamakura (grass pillow), aka. The Three Cornered World. I will get a copy.  Usually, Kokoro, Botchan, and Cat are considered to be Natsume's major works in Japan, as well as the West. The first English translation of Kusamakura was published in the 1960s under the title, The Three Cornered World. This is the book Glenn Gould was obsessed with. Early in this century, a new edition by a reputed translator was published under the original title, Kusamakura. Unless the publisher (Penguin P.) was confident of its quality vis a vis the quality of older edition, they wouldn't have published the new edition. 


It seems to me, a few questions remain. Was Gould's well-known transformation partially or largely influenced by Natsume's art philosophy? Why did the significance of Kusamakura replace that of Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which I personally admire?

https://youtu.be/jvI5a3kZl0M

https://youtu.be/w9wjPMBNJXo

I went for the older Turney translation, I guess in part because I wanted to read the book that Gould became so obsessed with, me being a fan of his. Excited to read it. But I will have to also check out Botchan soon.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

They were published by Heron Books. I have collected a lot of Heron Books over the years. They are well presented with that binding and feel good in the hand.

They must look gorgeous in your work room/library. Next time would you show the front cover please? 

I went for the older Turney translation, I guess in part because I wanted to read the book that Gould became so obsessed with, me being a fan of his. Excited to read it. But I will have to also check out Botchan soon.

Sounds good idea. Please let us know how it is like later !
Gould also had 2 Japanese copies he couldn't read. I thought it was crazy. But come to think of it, I may want original German and Russian editions of some books I like!

[aligreto]

They must look gorgeous in your work room/library. Next time would you show the front cover please? 

Here you go my friend


   

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Here you go my friend


   

The book is absolutely elegant and deluxe! Maupassant deserves that. 

[aligreto]

The book is absolutely elegant and deluxe! Maupassant deserves that.

Yes, Heron Books are well presented so I go out of my way locally to collect them if I can.

[vers la flamme]

Ernest Hemingway, The Nick Adams Stories



This is a posthumous compilation of stories that were never published altogether by Hemingway's own volition, but when taken together and arranged in this order, we really do see a biographical arc among all these short stories—semi-autobiographical, as it were. There are some stories I like a lot and some others I don't care for as much. Hemingway had a truly unique writing style that could rub one the wrong way just as easily as it could enrapture. I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle. The reason I keep trying with Hemingway is because he wrote one of my all-time favorite books: The Sun Also Rises, which he wrote in his 20s, and which changed my life when I read it in my teens. But I must admit that nothing else I've read from him has struck me in so permanent a way. Still, I reckon I'll keep trying throughout my life until I've read everything he's ever written, looking for another perfect book like The Sun Also Rises.

[aligreto]

Ernest Hemingway, The Nick Adams Stories



This is a posthumous compilation of stories that were never published altogether by Hemingway's own volition, but when taken together and arranged in this order, we really do see a biographical arc among all these short stories—semi-autobiographical, as it were. There are some stories I like a lot and some others I don't care for as much. Hemingway had a truly unique writing style that could rub one the wrong way just as easily as it could enrapture. I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle. The reason I keep trying with Hemingway is because he wrote one of my all-time favorite books: The Sun Also Rises, which he wrote in his 20s, and which changed my life when I read it in my teens. But I must admit that nothing else I've read from him has struck me in so permanent a way. Still, I reckon I'll keep trying throughout my life until I've read everything he's ever written, looking for another perfect book like The Sun Also Rises.

I do not know that collection but I have read a few Nick Adams stories.
Hemingway had a similar effect on me in my teens also. I think that what he had to offer in his earlier works struck a chord with many people around that age group who were open to such emotions and possibilities. When I read his works now, although I still enjoy them, I see his writing through more cynical eyes.

[aligreto]

Somerset Maugham: Ashenden


      


This is, I found, one of Maugham's much lighter works. It is about the adventures and escapades of an author who is recruited into the world of governmental espionage. His travels, encounters and lifestyle are well illustrated but essentially it is just enjoyable light reading.


The extra images are for our friend Dry Brett Kavanaugh who seems to like the presentation of Heron Books. 

[Artem]

A very strong recommendation for Cercas. Maybe the best book that I've read this year so far. Even Roberto Bolano comes up in the book. The Aosawa Murders was also a pretty good detective novel. Very interesting narrative approach.

[vers la flamme]

Loved The Nick Adams Stories so much that by the end of it, I decided to pick up another Hemingway book that I hadn't read, the famous A Farewell to Arms...:



... which I read all in one day. I couldn't put it down. Little did I know on Friday morning that I would plow through 600 pages of Hemingway over the weekend, but what can you do. Wow, that was a great book. So many iconic moments. And what a crushing ending. Wow. I'll definitely have to read some more Hemingway in the near future but I've exhausted my modest collection over the past few months. Like I may have alluded to, I don't always get so much out of Hemingway's writing, but with these two books, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience.

[vers la flamme]

Anyway, I've started this:



Star, by Yukio Mishima. So far so good. A brilliant novella that is not considered one of his major works by any means, but still it's filled with excellent, thought provoking writing. Inspired by the author's second career as a film actor.

[aligreto]

Loved The Nick Adams Stories so much that by the end of it, I decided to pick up another Hemingway book that I hadn't read, the famous A Farewell to Arms...:



... which I read all in one day. I couldn't put it down. Little did I know on Friday morning that I would plow through 600 pages of Hemingway over the weekend, but what can you do. Wow, that was a great book. So many iconic moments. And what a crushing ending. Wow. I'll definitely have to read some more Hemingway in the near future but I've exhausted my modest collection over the past few months. Like I may have alluded to, I don't always get so much out of Hemingway's writing, but with these two books, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience.

It is great when something unexpected like that happens.