What are you currently reading?

[Florestan]

Just started



Mori Ōgai - The Wild Goose.

[vers la flamme]

Gabriel García Márquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold



It's been almost a decade since I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude which had a huge impact on me. I still maintain that it's one of the best books I've ever read, but it's taken me until now to get into another book of García Márquez's (I did try and fail to make it through Love in the Time of Cholera last year). This novella or short novel is brilliant, full of richly ornate, detailed, gothic prose, detailing the events leading up to a murder, including an intricate characterization of the whole town in which it occurred, from the perspective of an independent investigator some decades later. I'm about a third of the way in, so far so good.

[Florestan]

Gabriel García Márquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold



It's been almost a decade since I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude which had a huge impact on me. I still maintain that it's one of the best books I've ever read, but it's taken me until now to get into another book of García Márquez's (I did try and fail to make it through Love in the Time of Cholera last year). This novella or short novel is brilliant, full of richly ornate, detailed, gothic prose, detailing the events leading up to a murder, including an intricate characterization of the whole town in which it occurred, from the perspective of an independent investigator some decades later. I'm about a third of the way in, so far so good.

Agreed about One Hundred Years... and Chronicle... but I'm surprised you didn't like Love in Time of Cholera. There are other three novels by him I can safely recommend: The General in His Labyrinth, The Autumn of the Patriarch and Of Love and Other Demons.

[aligreto]

..... but I'm surprised you didn't like Love in Time of Cholera.

I think that vers la flamme was lucky that he did not work his way to the end of the book. I felt that it was a good book in principle which could have done with some editing but the main problem for me was the "Hollywood" type ending. I think that it did a grave injustice to the character of the main female protagonist. Just my two cents.

[Florestan]

I think that vers la flamme was lucky that he did not work his way to the end of the book. I felt that it was a good book in principle which could have done with some editing but the main problem for me was the "Hollywood" type ending. I think that it did a grave injustice to the character of the main female protagonist. Just my two cents.

I'm not sure I can agree*. After all, she had seen it coming and accepted it --- and much more than a grave injustice to her it was great justice for his 53-year-7-month-11-days long, unwavering and faithful love.

(* a polite way of saying I strongly disagree  )

[aligreto]

I'm not sure I can agree*. After all, she had seen it coming and accepted it --- and much more than a grave injustice to her it was great justice for his 53-year-7-month-11-days long, unwavering and faithful love.

(* a polite way of saying I strongly disagree  )

SPOILER ALERT for those who want to read this novel.







For him, absolutely yes but she, with such strength of character throughout, was sold out in a whimper on the deck of a boat during a very convenient sunset and they all lived happily ever after 

Yes, Andrei, you very much are a True Romantic 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Agreed about One Hundred Years... and Chronicle... but I'm surprised you didn't like Love in Time of Cholera. There are other three novels by him I can safely recommend: The General in His Labyrinth, The Autumn of the Patriarch and Of Love and Other Demons.

I read 5-7 books by him and also visited Cartagena, Mompox, etc. and a house he lived in Colombia several times. But my reading experience was somehow mixed.

[Florestan]

For him, absolutely yes but she, with such strength of character throughout, was sold out in a whimper on the deck of a boat during a very convenient sunset and they all lived happily ever after 

Sometimes strength of character is just a camouflage for weakness. Beside, it was easy for her to be strong while she was not left alone with him and the prospect of a lonely old age; the moment her protective walls fell, she had no other choice --- and possibly no other desire --- than to surrender. She could have very well surrendered in her own house while brushing the carpets, heavy rain outside; the boat and the sunset, though, are much more magically realistic, don't you think?

Yes, Andrei, you very much are a True Romantic 

Thanks, Fergus, I'll take that a compliment. 

[vers la flamme]

I'm going to try reading Love in the Time of Cholera sometime. I probably just wasn't in the right mood at the time.

[vers la flamme]

Gabriel García Márquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold

I finished it. Pardon my French, but holy fuck, that book was incredible! A true masterpiece of the Gothic genre. I loved the vivid prose describing violence and disease, and sex of the vilest kind. So many fascinating characters. I reckon this is one I ought to read again and again. I would love to read it in the original Spanish.

[Alek Hidell]

As for homosexuality, while I don't care about anyone's sexual preferences and one of my top five composers is Tchaikovsky, I must confess that I do feel uncomfortable with works of art which seem to extoll the virtues of this vice (excuse the pun).

I know this was three days ago, Andrei, but I can't let it pass. Why do you consider homosexuality a vice?

[Florestan]

I know this was three days ago, Andrei, but I can't let it pass. Why do you consider homosexuality a vice?

It was a pun marked as such. I don't consider homosexuality per se a vice. What I consider a vice, and am strongly opposed to, is homosexual propaganda and proselytizing  --- and this is the last I'm going to say on this topic. This thread is hardly the place to discuss it and tbh I have no interest in discussing it at all.

[Florestan]

Just started



Mori Ōgai - The Wild Goose.

Has anyone read this very strange book? It builds up slowly and inexorably towards a predictible end which doesn't happen though (because of, well, a wild goose) and  the reader is (1) left completely baffled and clueless as to what actually happened instead and (2) specifically instructed by the author not to speculate about it. WTF? 

Anyway, another day, another book. 



Stamboul Train

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I have no interest in discussing it at all.

Disappointing. We should talk about homosexuality Tuesday and Thursday every week.

Has anyone read this very strange book?

I haven't. In generall, readers are divided on the work. Personally not a big fan of Mori.

[Artem]

Recently finished


A Christmas story of sorts. I feel it is better to read it during the winter. Will read it again soon.


Enjoyable book, but it could have been much better if the author's intention was not to make an experiment out of it. Two men meet after not seeing each other for a long time and then.. Probably a spoiler after that.


The worst book that I've read this year so far. A collection of ridiculous short stories that lucky aren't too long.


An experimental surrealistic novel. Unfortunately unfinished, because the author died having completed five chapters.

[vers la flamme]

Kobo Abe, The Woman in the Dunes



My first book by this author; I can't help but to ask, is Abe the Japanese Kafka? I'm about a third of the way into the book and it seems to be a fine absurd, existential drama. Very vivid writing. I love the analytical mind of the unnamed protagonist, which is ultimately futile in dealing with his horrifying situation. I love the vivid descriptions of the dark, fantastical settings.

[Alek Hidell]

It was a pun marked as such. I don't consider homosexuality per se a vice. What I consider a vice, and am strongly opposed to, is homosexual propaganda and proselytizing  --- and this is the last I'm going to say on this topic. This thread is hardly the place to discuss it and tbh I have no interest in discussing it at all.

Fair enough. I won't press, although I am left with questions ...

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Kobo Abe, The Woman in the Dunes



My first book by this author; I can't help but to ask, is Abe the Japanese Kafka? I'm about a third of the way into the book and it seems to be a fine absurd, existential drama. Very vivid writing. I love the analytical mind of the unnamed protagonist, which is ultimately futile in dealing with his horrifying situation. I love the vivid descriptions of the dark, fantastical settings.

Yes, some people think that Abe is like Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia (whoever that is). While I like the Dunes, I haven't read his other works. I must try some of them asap. Mishima liked Abe's works (in spite of the total differences in their styles, themes, and ideology), and he "remained" as only one writer-friend of Abe. Just in case, the below is a WP article about him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/01/20/kobo-abe-a-figure-apart/26b6d4c3-e3c2-4d8a-b28a-55ecf0f3091f/

[ritter]

Yes, some people think that Abe is like Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia (whoever that is). ...

Curious how our perceptions change depending on our background, etc. When reading the names Kobo Abe and Alberto Moravia in one sentence, my question would be "Who can Kobo Abe be?"  , as I've read--and enjoyed--quite a lot of Moravia (his books having been in my parents' library from way before I was born).

But that's the beauty of GMG: one get's exposed to things one wasn't aware above previously.

[DaveF]

I had high hopes of this one, since it's about Elizabethan and Jacobean music and includes walk-on parts for Byrd, Shakespeare, Morley and Richard Mulcaster, as well as the Queen and many of her courtly retinue.  I'm sure the historical research is painstakingly accurate, but the characterisation is non-existent and the writing (admittedly in translation) just dull.