April & May 2008 Fiction Book Suggestions

[jales4]

Hi Opelia,

I've just check Vanity Fair on Amazon, and it looks very interesting. I've added it to my 'to read' list.

One problem I seem to have acquired since joining Booktalk is that there are so many great recommendations, that my reading list is growing at a much faster rate than my reading.

Jan.

[MadArchitect]

If we're looking for something humorous to read, it might be a good idea to take a look at Evelyn Waugh's catalog, particularly the novels he wrote before his conversion to Catholicism. Someone (Penelope? Ophelia?) listed Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" as an example of a humorless book, but Hardy's earlier works tend to be lighter romps through the lives of 18th century English provincials. Something like "Under the Greenwood Tree" might fit the bill. And, as we've discussed before, something by Kurt Vonnegut would probably be appropriate.

[irishrosem]

Ophelia, Thackeray is one of those writers I've always meant to get to, but haven't yet. At around 800 pages, Vanity Fair might fall out of the guidelines for an official discussion as far as length is concerned. But I heard that Thackeray's Barry Lyndon is also very good. Plus, it's supposed to be about an Irish rogue, and we've got one of those romping about on booktalk.

[MadArchitect]

And, if anyone wants to cheat, they can just watch the Kubrick adaptation of Barry Lyndon.

[Ophelia]

Irishrosem,

Yes, I agree that Vanity Fair is not suitable for a BT discussion, but I recommend it very warmly for personal reading.

I tried Barry Lyndon afterwards, but the "light " touch was gone. It's a very good novel but the characters , and especially the main character, are such blackguards, seemingly without feelings or morals... I got discouraged.
As often the film can influence your reading of the novel. In Kubrick's film there was for me a scene at the beginning which coloured everything: the young man was the victim of robbery soon after leaving his native village. Well, I had no idea this wasn't in the book: the character wasn't robbed of the money his mother had given him, but seemed to slide quite naturally into a life of debauchery. This made it almost imposible for me to identify with him (identifying with characters is one of the things we talked about on the chat yesterday).

[Bananafish]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

or

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy, also discussion of the film could help.

[MadArchitect]

Unfortunately, Bananafish, we've already done "The Road" as a fiction selection. I say "unfortunately" not because the book wasn't worth reading, but because it would have been nice to have had another voice or two in the mix. The book has been getting a lot more attention since when we read it -- the Pulitzer announcement came during our discussion period, too late to draw many more people in. If you're already reading the book, or have already read it, you might want to sift through the archives and try to resurrect the discussion. There are at least three regular contributors whom I am sure would respond to comments about the book.

[Ophelia]

I'd like to suggest Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess,

which was mentioned during the chat.

[irishrosem]

Ophelia, I had read somewhere that Barry Lyndon was an idea that Thackeray more fully realized in Vanity Fair. Ah well, just thought I would throw it out there.

Actually, with some of the discussion on humor in this thread, I'm thinking that No Country for Old Men might be a good book choice. It is definitely violent, but it's also very funny and touching at times. In fact, it's one of only a few books that have made me laugh aloud. I mean, put the book down, full on laughing. And it's quite a fluid read, but with many different thematic elements that would be good for discussion. It might be nice to have some lighter prose, but still with a solid story for exploration, following Heart of Darkness.

I know it seems weird to seriously consider reading another McCarthy book so closely after reading The Road, but The Road wasn't an official discussion, and we only had a few participants in that thread. And I keep recommending No Country for Old Men to an array of readers that I know, because I think it can have wide appeal.

The other thing that might be good to consider is that No Country for Old Men is a current film, and it's just won some Golden Globes and will probably be winning some Oscars. It must be attracting some readers, and maybe we could attract them our way. Anyway, I'd back a reading of No Country for Old Men.

And yes Bananafish, as Mad said, I too will definitely try to reply to anything you want to discuss in The Road. That's a discussion that died out before we had exhausted it.

[Chris OConnor]

No Country for Old Men sounds like a really good choice.