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[Spotted Horses]

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O'Farrell



Iris is a young woman who runs a shop specializing in used and vintage clothing. One day she gets a mysterious letter, then a phone call referencing Esme Lennox, who turns out to be her great aunt, her Grandmother Kitty's sister, who has been confined to a mental hospital for more than 60 years. Iris goes to the mental hospital, which is shutting down, when plans to transfer her to a hostel fall through, she ends up hosting Esme at her flat. Esme has the surreal experience of seeing the places where her early life unfolded more than 60 years earlier. The story of Esme's confinement is told in the present by Iris, and by Esme, in flashbacks to Esme's childhood, and in the semi-coherent thoughts of Kitty, who now suffers Alzheimer's disease. A compelling book.

[vers la flamme]

Thanks, that's good to know. I guess if I could master Japanese the same way Kitaru does the Kansai dialect in the story, I could find out for myself ..

I loved that story too.

[Spotted Horses]

Simply an extraordinary work - You can sense Ellison really stretching himself.

Having re-read The Invisible Man I resolved to read Ellison's unfinished second novel, which is said to have existed in a 2,000 page unfinished draft. But it is available in two forms, "Juneteenth" (an edited and condensed version) and "Three Days Before the Shooting," which is said to be more complete. What is your perspective?

[JBS]

You will want to read Three Days Before the Shooting which is not just the complete manuscript, but also contains a wealth of material especially as it regards the editing process. It is not simply a feat fictionally but also academically. The editing process reminds me of O Lost (the restoration) versus Look Homeward, Angel (the "abridged"). It is an extremely worthwhile book, and one which I find more impressive than The Invisible Man, but that is because it plays a bit more toward my predilections. Ellison is much more daring in Three Days.

Welcome back!

[DavidW]

So many twists and turns.  It is a real chunker, but George uses the length well to develop all of the characters and their relationship well.  There is more complexity and character depth than you would find in shorter mysteries.

[Spotted Horses]

Welcome back!

+1

I hope your sojourn here will be longer this time.

[LKB]

Last night l started the first pass at James Hornfischer's final major work, Who can hold the Sea.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: Meditations.

[Ganondorf]

Started reading these two in library today:







However didn't actually borrow them as I have currently a little too many books borrowed.

I finished the first 2 chapters of L'assommoir and the first chapter of book 1 in This Side of Paradise.

[aligreto]

Joyce: Ulysses





I have, at last, finally completed reading this opus after at least three attempts to do so.
There are very many appreciations written about this book. I understand its importance as far as the form of The Novel is concerned. One only has to read it to discover how radical it was particularly for its time. I really like and appreciate Joyce's use of words and especially his play on words, being a fellow Dubliner.
However, this was a difficult read for me. It takes stamina to read one's way to the end. It took me three months to get through it without reading anything else concurrently.
In one sense I genuinely do not understand the universal appeal of this book. There are so many specific references to the colloquial essence of a particular place in time [Dublin], particular historical events and persons [in Ireland], colloquial expressions of speech and the manner of local personal inter-reactions that I find it difficult to comprehend how well it appears to have travelled. I wonder how much of it is really comprehended and understood? On the other hand I realise that its appeal can also be universal in the sense that the events, or similar, could have happened in any other European capital city even if the pervading historical background was different.
I must humbly confess that I did not understand or follow large tracts of the prose, particularly when I was presented with some paragraphs that went on for up to two or more pages in length, and sometimes more. There was also that extended "Play" in the novel. What on earth was that about?
Make no doubt about it, this is not an easy read. For me, as a result, this was also not an inspirational read. It was tough going throughout and I sometimes had to force myself to pick up the book again and continue. However, I am very pleased that I have eventually completed reading this epic tome.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Joyce: Ulysses





I have, at last, finally completed reading this opus after at least three attempts to do so.
There are very many appreciations written about this book. I understand its importance as far as the form of The Novel is concerned. One only has to read it to discover how radical it was particularly for its time. I really like and appreciate Joyce's use of words and especially his play on words, being a fellow Dubliner.
However, this was a difficult read for me. It takes stamina to read one's way to the end. It took me three months to get through it without reading anything else concurrently.
In one sense I genuinely do not understand the universal appeal of this book. There are so many specific references to the colloquial essence of a particular place in time [Dublin], particular historical events and persons [in Ireland], colloquial expressions of speech and the manner of local personal inter-reactions that I find it difficult to comprehend how well it appears to have travelled. I wonder how much of it is really comprehended and understood? On the other hand I realise that its appeal can also be universal in the sense that the events, or similar, could have happened in any other European capital city even if the pervading historical background was different.
I must humbly confess that I did not understand or follow large tracts of the prose, particularly when I was presented with some paragraphs that went on for up to two or more pages in length, and sometimes more. There was also that extended "Play" in the novel. What on earth was that about?
Make no doubt about it, this is not an easy read. For me, as a result, this was also not an inspirational read. It was tough going throughout and I sometimes had to force myself to pick up the book again and continue. However, I am very pleased that I have eventually completed reading this epic tome.

Welcome back, Fergus!
Yes, it seems to me, Ulysses is not an easy read. I don't know when I will start reading it. Still, it is a best seller book on Amazon USA and it is recommended by Amazon.  I like Dubliners since I read it first time when I was a high-school student.

[JBS]

Joyce: Ulysses





I have, at last, finally completed reading this opus after at least three attempts to do so.
There are very many appreciations written about this book. I understand its importance as far as the form of The Novel is concerned. One only has to read it to discover how radical it was particularly for its time. I really like and appreciate Joyce's use of words and especially his play on words, being a fellow Dubliner.
However, this was a difficult read for me. It takes stamina to read one's way to the end. It took me three months to get through it without reading anything else concurrently.
In one sense I genuinely do not understand the universal appeal of this book. There are so many specific references to the colloquial essence of a particular place in time [Dublin], particular historical events and persons [in Ireland], colloquial expressions of speech and the manner of local personal inter-reactions that I find it difficult to comprehend how well it appears to have travelled. I wonder how much of it is really comprehended and understood? On the other hand I realise that its appeal can also be universal in the sense that the events, or similar, could have happened in any other European capital city even if the pervading historical background was different.
I must humbly confess that I did not understand or follow large tracts of the prose, particularly when I was presented with some paragraphs that went on for up to two or more pages in length, and sometimes more. There was also that extended "Play" in the novel. What on earth was that about?
Make no doubt about it, this is not an easy read. For me, as a result, this was also not an inspirational read. It was tough going throughout and I sometimes had to force myself to pick up the book again and continue. However, I am very pleased that I have eventually completed reading this epic tome.

Then you're ready to read Finnegan's Wake....might need only a decade or so to finish it.

I've have Ulysses in my bookcase for 30 years, but have never gotten past the opening. FW I've at least read the first hundred or so pages.

From my college courses, I have the impression that part of Ulysses's fame was due to it being a pioneer work in using stream of conciousness--and FW being a logical next step, stream of subconciousness (since its surface layer is presented as one man's night long dream).

[Jo498]

It's been a long time and it was in translation and I had some commentary/guide book but I made it through Ulysses in my early 20s. There were some passages that I found just irritating or hardly comprehensible, even with a commentary, others are entertaining or immersive or both. Also, the "matching" of episodes to episodes from Homer is sometimes a bit silly (e.g. the Cyclops is paralleled by someone throwing something after Bloom)
I am not sure about translation quality but if one likes the  "many-voiced" style in a more manageable and less difficult way, I'd recommend Döblin: Berlin Alexanderplatz, basically a novel of 1920s Berlin, incl. its seedy underbelly.

[aligreto]

Welcome back, Fergus!
Yes, it seems to me, Ulysses is not an easy read. I don't know when I will start reading it. Still, it is a best seller book on Amazon USA and it is recommended by Amazon.  I like Dubliners since I read it first time when I was a high-school student.

Thank you, Manabu.
Ulysses was not an easy read but it was ultimately rewarding to finally reach the final page.
It was definitely thought provoking being a Dubliner and, obviously, and Irishman.
It was definitely an epic read.

[aligreto]

Then you're ready to read Finnegan's Wake....might need only a decade or so to finish it.

I've have Ulysses in my bookcase for 30 years, but have never gotten past the opening. FW I've at least read the first hundred or so pages.

From my college courses, I have the impression that part of Ulysses's fame was due to it being a pioneer work in using stream of conciousness--and FW being a logical next step, stream of subconciousness (since its surface layer is presented as one man's night long dream).

I think that I will leave Finnegan's Wake until I have reach my dotage.  It is only then that I will probably only have any chance of understanding it. 
I feel that one would have to totally suspend reality to get anywhere with any comprehension of this work!

Seriously, though, as far as Finnegan's Wake  is concerned, the thinking in Ireland has long been that it is best read aloud. This, apparently, facilitates the flow of language and also the stream of conscientiousness.

[aligreto]

It's been a long time and it was in translation and I had some commentary/guide book but I made it through Ulysses in my early 20s. There were some passages that I found just irritating or hardly comprehensible, even with a commentary, others are entertaining or immersive or both. Also, the "matching" of episodes to episodes from Homer is sometimes a bit silly (e.g. the Cyclops is paralleled by someone throwing something after Bloom)
I am not sure about translation quality but if one likes the  "many-voiced" style in a more manageable and less difficult way, I'd recommend Döblin: Berlin Alexanderplatz, basically a novel of 1920s Berlin, incl. its seedy underbelly.

Honestly, it must be very difficult to translate Ulysses into any language!!
Joyce himself may have made a good fist of it into French or Italian, perhaps.

[JBS]

I think that I will leave Finnegan's Wake until I have reach my dotage.  It is only then that I will probably only have any chance of understanding it. 
I feel that one would have to totally suspend reality to get anywhere with any comprehension of this work!

Seriously, though, as far as Finnegan's Wake  is concerned, the thinking in Ireland has long been that it is best read aloud. This, apparently, facilitates the flow of language and also the stream of conscientiousness.

I'm not sure Joyce intended for his readers to understand FW. I mean, would you know unprompted that "Anna Livia Plurabelle" is in part a stand-in for the River Liffey and in part the dreamer's wife?

But reading it aloud does make sense, given that it's in some ways a prose poem filled with portmanteau words and multi-faceted symbols.

[aligreto]

But reading it aloud does make sense, given that it's in some ways a prose poem filled with portmanteau words and multi-faceted symbols.

Also, as music was important to Joyce, reading Finnegan's Wake aloud is also purported to aid and assist with the musicality and lyricism of the text.

[Spotted Horses]

Joyce: Ulysses





I have, at last, finally completed reading this opus after at least three attempts to do so.
There are very many appreciations written about this book. I understand its importance as far as the form of The Novel is concerned. One only has to read it to discover how radical it was particularly for its time. I really like and appreciate Joyce's use of words and especially his play on words, being a fellow Dubliner.
However, this was a difficult read for me. It takes stamina to read one's way to the end. It took me three months to get through it without reading anything else concurrently.
In one sense I genuinely do not understand the universal appeal of this book. There are so many specific references to the colloquial essence of a particular place in time [Dublin], particular historical events and persons [in Ireland], colloquial expressions of speech and the manner of local personal inter-reactions that I find it difficult to comprehend how well it appears to have travelled. I wonder how much of it is really comprehended and understood? On the other hand I realise that its appeal can also be universal in the sense that the events, or similar, could have happened in any other European capital city even if the pervading historical background was different.
I must humbly confess that I did not understand or follow large tracts of the prose, particularly when I was presented with some paragraphs that went on for up to two or more pages in length, and sometimes more. There was also that extended "Play" in the novel. What on earth was that about?
Make no doubt about it, this is not an easy read. For me, as a result, this was also not an inspirational read. It was tough going throughout and I sometimes had to force myself to pick up the book again and continue. However, I am very pleased that I have eventually completed reading this epic tome.

After 30 years, I am perhaps 20% of the way through. There are parts of the book which are magical, and other parts of the book which seem pointless and/or unintelligible and I have the feeling that I am missing some essential reference and not getting it. A annotated version where I am endlessly referring to notes explaining what I am missing has no appeal. I want a novel to immerse me in a different world.

[Florestan]

I want a novel to immerse me in a different world.

May I suggest José Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda. I'm sure the world therein is very different from yours --- and as a bonus, you'll meet Domenico Scarlatti as a character.