What are you currently reading?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers



I've been a fan of McCullers since I first read her books many years ago. I'm re-reading this book after a long interval.

The book depicts the poverty and limited opportunities that restrict the people who live in a southern mill town. The central character is a deaf-mute named John Singer, who is initially roommate and close friend with another deaf-mute, who eventually becomes insane and is confined to an asylum. When Singer is left alone he moves to a room in a boarding house and starts taking long walks through the town. Singer is able to read lips and communicate by means of a writing tablet and this restricted form of communication allows the people he meets to project their own idea of his identity on him. He is befriended by a disparate group of people who share the trait of being isolated and unable to find their place in society. Other important characters are Mick, a tomboyish girl who dreams of being a musician, a labor agitator who comes to the town at the beginning of the story and leaves at the end, an African-American physician who strives to strives to raise the members of his community from poverty and ignorance, but is unable to relate to his own family, a cafe owner who is fascinated by the flow of people through his restaurant but struggles to engage with them. A gem of a book.

Great book!

[Spotted Horses]

Great book!

My big McCullers revelation was when I read "A Member of the Wedding" as an adult. I was assigned it in secondary school and I didn't get it at all. But re-reading, it is a very raw look at a person trying to find her maturity.

[Iota]

At 900 pages, in prose that I can't help but stop to savour, I must admit it took a while ..

Although sometimes I feel Dickens paints characters a little too good or too bad to be true, they can still be immensely successful, partly owing to his genius for creating unforgettable characters, and partly because the qualities he gives them are often nonetheless very real/familiar human virtues and failings that stimulate empathy or antipathy, such as he clearly often feels himself.
David Copperfield has a rich line-up of such characters, perhaps the most famous being the egregious Uriah Heep, descriptions of whom are just so simultaneously brilliant, hilarious and repugnant, it's a bit like watching Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks sketch while having live maggots poured down your shirt.

His compassion, wit and powers of description seem to come from a quite inexhaustible reservoir, a spectacle in itself, and they light up the novel from beginning to end. A great and immensely enjoyable book.

Almost straight after DC I read the also excellent Drive My Car by Haruki Murakami. Hard to imagine a greater contrast in prose style. Not surprisingly the short story is very different from the (marvellous) three hour film, but its distinct feel/atmosphere very much pervades the whole film I think.

[Florestan]

At 900 pages, in prose that I can't help but stop to savour, I must admit it took a while ..

Although sometimes I feel Dickens paints characters a little too good or too bad to be true, they can still be immensely successful, partly owing to his genius for creating unforgettable characters, and partly because the qualities he gives them are often nonetheless very real/familiar human virtues and failings that stimulate empathy or antipathy, such as he clearly often feels himself.
David Copperfield has a rich line-up of such characters, perhaps the most famous being the egregious Uriah Heep, descriptions of whom are just so simultaneously brilliant, hilarious and repugnant, it's a bit like watching Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks sketch while having live maggots poured down your shirt.

His compassion, wit and powers of description seem to come from a quite inexhaustible reservoir, a spectacle in itself, and they light up the novel from beginning to end. A great and immensely enjoyable book.

Almost straight after DC I read the also excellent Drive My Car by Haruki Murakami. Hard to imagine a greater contrast in prose style. Not surprisingly the short story is very different from the (marvellous) three hour film, but its distinct feel/atmosphere very much pervades the whole film I think.

My favorite Dickens is Nicholas Nickleby. Also The Bleak House but this I've only seen the ecranization, never read the book proper.

[Iota]

My favorite Dickens is Nicholas Nickleby. Also The Bleak House but this I've only seen the ecranization, never read the book proper.

I still haven't read Nicholas Nickleby, something I should rectify before I depart this world. Not sure I have a favourite, quite a few I've yet to read. I will say I liked Hard Times a lot more than some seemed to .. also attractively brief in comparison to much of the Dickens canon.

[Ganondorf]

David Copperfield is in my top 5 Dickens books and I enjoy it immmensely. To me the most brilliant and memorable character of the book is James Steerforth. I really enjoy Byronic Heroes.

However, my absolute favorite Dickens book is Our Mutual Friend.

[SimonNZ]

These on the go:

[DavidW]

Oh I've read The Club Dumas!  It is significantly different from the movie that they both can stand on their own.

[vers la flamme]

These on the go:

I ordered this. Excited to read it.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I ordered this. Excited to read it.

It's in my library. I will open it this summer!

[Brian]

I've been saving Gardiner on Bach until some time when I can really make a project of listening to the cantatas, because - not surprising given his recordings - apparently the cantatas are a major part of his discussion in the book.

I'm reading "Can You Forgive Her?" If there is a GMG Trollope Society to go with our Dickens fans, please consider me a member.

[Mookalafalas]

I've been saving Gardiner on Bach until some time when I can really make a project of listening to the cantatas, because - not surprising given his recordings - apparently the cantatas are a major part of his discussion in the book.

I'm reading "Can You Forgive Her?" If there is a GMG Trollope Society to go with our Dickens fans, please consider me a member.

On the Bach, me too. I got the book and read about half, but it absolutely becomes clear you need to have a set of the Cantatas on hand to get the most out of the book. I keep meaning to come back to it...
   On the Trollope, I am surprised you're a fan. I gave him a try, and just couldn't get into him. I love Dickens, and did my doctoral diss on 18th century British lit, so you you'd think he'd be in my wheelhouse, if not made to order for me. I'll have to give him another shot...

[Mandryka]

Very good, and it's prompted me to revisit Rossellini - I watched Europa 51 last night, Germany Year Zero over the weekend. Stromboli is coming up soon.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Very good, and it's prompted me to revisit Rossellini - I watched Europa 51 last night, Germany Year Zero over the weekend. Stromboli is coming up soon.

One of my friends is a big fan of Slavoj Zizek!

[Ganondorf]

Returned briefly to my reading marathon of whole Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Read today at library the first section of Sodom et Gomorrhe where the narrator (finally!) figures out that Charlus is gay. There was an interesting reference in that section to what the narrator saw going on between Vinteuil and Albertine which renews my suspicions that maybe they were really making love after all. Or am I missing something? The passage in Sodom et Gomorrhe kind of seems to imply that the narrator wants to see what Charlus is doing with Jupien BECAUSE he remembers what he saw at Vinteuil's, kind of like he seems to be anticipating what he shall shortly find out.

[Mandryka]

Returned briefly to my reading marathon of whole Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Read today at library the first section of Sodom et Gomorrhe where the narrator (finally!) figures out that Charlus is gay. There was an interesting reference in that section to what the narrator saw going on between Vinteuil and Albertine which renews my suspicions that maybe they were really making love after all. Or am I missing something? The passage in Sodom et Gomorrhe kind of seems to imply that the narrator wants to see what Charlus is doing with Jupien BECAUSE he remembers what he saw at Vinteuil's, kind of like he seems to be anticipating what he shall shortly find out.

It's worth going back to the passage in Swann's Way where, Marcel, hiding, looks through the window. Do the two women know that they are being spied on? If so, how does that effect their actions?

[Florestan]

Totally weird. The ideas and values of the France of 200 years ago have about as much to do with my life now as the Greece of Homer. It doesn't work through story, it rather works through the tension caused by the interaction of alien life forms. Balzac is good at it, 400 pages and no boring bits. He's easy to read and there are some super passages of purple prose -- I mean, it's not Alexandrines but apart from that, the prose is sometimes as purple as Racine's verse. As I'm reading, I'm wondering what should I read next -- Pere Goriod, Peau de Chagrin, Illusions Perdues . . . ?

Without wishing to lower the tone of the forum, why on earth doesn't Felix just shag Henriette -- she'd be a lot better as a result -- and give her husband a good slapping?

Felix himself answers the question:

Si vous me demandez pourquoi, jeune et plein de fougueux vouloirs, je demeurai dans les abusives croyances de l'amour platonique, je vous avouerai que je n'étais pas assez homme encore pour tourmenter cette femme, toujours en crainte de quelque catastrophe chez ses enfants ; toujours attendant un éclat, une orageuse variation chez son mari ; frappée par lui, quand elle n'était pas affligée par la maladie de Jacques ou de Madeleine ; assise au chevet de l'un d'eux quand son mari calmé pouvait lui laisser prendre un peu de repos. Le son d'une parole trop vive ébranlait son être, un désir l'offensait ; pour elle, il fallait être amour voilé, force mêlée de tendresse, enfin tout ce qu'elle était pour les autres. Puis, vous le dirai-je, à vous si bien femme, cette situation comportait des langueurs enchanteresses, des moments de suavité divine et les contentements qui suivent de tacites immolations. Sa conscience était contagieuse, son dévouement sans récompense terrestre imposait par sa persistance ; cette vive et secrète piété qui servait de lien à ses autres vertus, agissait à l'entour comme un encens spirituel. Puis j'étais jeune ! assez jeune pour concentrer ma nature dans le baiser qu'elle me permettait si rarement de mettre sur sa main dont elle ne voulut jamais me donner que le dessus et jamais la paume, limite où pour elle commençaient peut-être les voluptés sensuelles. Si jamais deux âmes ne s'étreignirent avec plus d'ardeur, jamais le corps ne fut plus intrépidement ni plus victorieusement dompté.

[Florestan]

A fascinating piece of cultural and social history. Highly recommended.

[Mandryka]

Felix himself answers the question:

Si vous me demandez pourquoi, jeune et plein de fougueux vouloirs, je demeurai dans les abusives croyances de l'amour platonique, je vous avouerai que je n'étais pas assez homme encore pour tourmenter cette femme, toujours en crainte de quelque catastrophe chez ses enfants ; toujours attendant un éclat, une orageuse variation chez son mari ; frappée par lui, quand elle n'était pas affligée par la maladie de Jacques ou de Madeleine ; assise au chevet de l'un d'eux quand son mari calmé pouvait lui laisser prendre un peu de repos. Le son d'une parole trop vive ébranlait son être, un désir l'offensait ; pour elle, il fallait être amour voilé, force mêlée de tendresse, enfin tout ce qu'elle était pour les autres. Puis, vous le dirai-je, à vous si bien femme, cette situation comportait des langueurs enchanteresses, des moments de suavité divine et les contentements qui suivent de tacites immolations. Sa conscience était contagieuse, son dévouement sans récompense terrestre imposait par sa persistance ; cette vive et secrète piété qui servait de lien à ses autres vertus, agissait à l'entour comme un encens spirituel. Puis j'étais jeune ! assez jeune pour concentrer ma nature dans le baiser qu'elle me permettait si rarement de mettre sur sa main dont elle ne voulut jamais me donner que le dessus et jamais la paume, limite où pour elle commençaient peut-être les voluptés sensuelles. Si jamais deux âmes ne s'étreignirent avec plus d'ardeur, jamais le corps ne fut plus intrépidement ni plus victorieusement dompté.

It's quite a contrast with Frédéric's attitude to sex with Mme Arnoux in L'Éducation sentimentale. Presumably the relationship in the Flaubert is somehow a distorted reflection of the relationship in the Balzac.

[Iota]

I dipped into the above again and read a short story called Yesterday (the title referencing the fact that a character in the book invents a nonsense rhyme in a Japanese dialect to fit the tune, and sings it in the bath).
A beautifully written story, which I'm mentioning mainly because I'm just amazed at how easy Murakami's prose is to read! It's so transparent, it almost reads itself! I'm not sure I've experienced anything else quite like it. I'm very curious if it reads so naturally in the original in Japanese
My feeling may be coloured by the fact that I recently read the 900 page David Copperfield in which I had to park up almost every 5 minutes to admire the view. Wonderful though that was, the contrast with Murakami could hardly be greater.