NYRB Publishing

Seriously, the only bad novel by a Hungarian I've read was some crap by Peter Nadas--the rest of these guys really know/knew how to write.

See also: Miklos Banffy, Sandor Marai, Antal Szerb, Imre Kertesz, Frigyes Karinthy, Ferenc Karinthy, Zsigmond Móricz, Gyula Krudy, Lajos Zilahy, Tibor Dery, László Krasznahorkai

Hmm. Obviously I need to find some female Hungarian writers, too.

At the end of Skylark I thought that well this is the closest the circus must be like as a book, and that's what Kosztolányi, Marai, Krudy, Dery and maybe Szerb do. Comes through a town spreading joy and leave everyone with a hint of sadness when they go away.

Krasznahorkai and Kertsz are v different to that.

Great description!

Yeah, Krasznahorkai is never going to be compared to a circus.

Special Film Forum tie-in screening of Nightmare Alley tonight.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/john-williams-stoner-wins-waterstones-book-of-the-year-8979661.html

i started reading that just recently, it's terrific. i cant really think of anyone id give it to as an xmas gift, though

i usually this version in uk bookshops rather than the nyrb one -

http://theasylum.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/stoner.jpg

Hmm. Obviously I need to find some female Hungarian writers, too.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-51wZVF16wq8/TskkXCsPq-I/AAAAAAAAABg/ooXEBISUysQ/s640/vampir_noemi.jpg

Nice - is she from Transylvania too?

There is a piece by Julian Barnes on Stoner today.

The re-issue of the forgotten American novels, mostly from the 20s and 30s (Glenway Wescott), is the one bit from NYRB 'programme' that I find it hard to muster any interest in.

I actually think Stoner will be boring and actually dull. It might also be that I really dislike some of the people that have gone for this (the Barnes piece is like 'oh I am sent books all the time but more than one of my buddies told me to read it' I mean plz fuck off!) Maybe I should stop doing that, but I suspect I'll just get worse..

I've enjoyed that end of the catalogue, funnily enough: James Schuyler, Kenneth Fearing, JF Powers, Elaine Dundy. Think you might like "Tenants of Moonbloom" by Edward Lewis Wallant and "The Unpossessed" by Tess Slesinger, xyzzz. These were all things I knew nothing about before taking NYRB-related punts.

Can't speak for those others, xyzzzz__, but your instinct about Stoner is correct.

Nah, read it. I recoil from fiction about the groves of academe but this novel works -- and a quick read.

Ah yes I remember liking this piece on Schuyler so I'll try and give him a go for a start and if I can find some of the others...tx.

Like that guy who wrote the review you just linked, Michael Hofmann, both his translations from German and his own stuff.

Both myself and James Morrison agree he's great yeah. We disagree on his essay on Zweig tho'.

From the translation work the Joseph Roth is awesome, as is Keun's Child of all Nations. Muller and Junger didn't leave an impression but I think this is to do with the works themselves. Love to read his Kafka translation sometime.

I've read his Kafka 'Metamorphosis & Other Stories' with the groovy Sammy Harkham cover:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hvV0JHPYX_I/SpSRJd5394I/AAAAAAAAGEg/lgPAkGzr_-U/s1600/pg+%281%29.jpg

I was just re-reading Benjamin's essay on Kafka (as a result of my above remarks.) Its great he has translated those stories, will look!

To further clarify this is all I thought he had translated.

Looking at the 'forthcoming' section and I have to say I am excited about this book:

http://www.nybooks.com/books/imprints/classics/last-words-from-montmartre/

Has anyone here tried to suggest anything to them? I sent a horrible rambly suggestion of John Galt's _The Entail_ a while back, but never got any sort of response. I do occasionally think of other works I'd love to see republished, but ehhh, I'm not too tempted to try to send more suggestions to what may well be a bit bucket.

Who is John Galt? Sorry, couldn't resist, but also it's a real question & please state yr case for The Entail, thx. Seems like we're due for an Ivy Compton-Burnett revival too, or have they already done that?

they definitely read them, not sure how many from that suggestion box they actually follow up on

My interest in Galt came about thanks to a set of posts on the blog Wuthering Expectations. There's a bunch on Galt, but the three on _The Entail_ start here: The Entail, Galt's best book (hit "newer" post to keep going, or click the John Galt label to see the rest of the posts.)
I've read parts of it on Project Gutenberg and really wanted to keep going, but I don't enjoy reading longform on a screen, and don't have an ereader. If I remember correctly, my suggestion primarily consisted of quotes from the book and some links (including the above). Probably some embarrassing, daffy rambling, as is my wont.
I guess a suggestion from someone who hasn't read a book isn't likely to weigh too heavily.

Dunno about revival, but they have released some Compton-Burnett. I enjoyed _Manservant and Maidservant_ a lot, but haven't picked up anything else yet. I keep thinking I'm not a fan of dialogue-heavy novels, but that novel is a good case against that belief.

I just now enjoyed all those Galt quotes, descriptions and speculations. Checked my local library online: no Galt, but they do have Castle Rackrent, in an Edgeworth twofer with Ennui. That's another promising title, re the attitude in the Wuthering commentator's Castle quotes.

nyrb is pretty responsive on twitter too

Nah, read it. I recoil from fiction about the groves of academe but this novel works -- and a quick read.

― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, December 14, 2013 8:17 AM (1 month ago)

i think i had heard of the reissue before i was privy to a talk by a MORAL PHILOSOPHER all about STONER and what a etc. etc. example it was, the whole thing (the talk i mean) seemed to be an exercise in academic narcissism ('oh i found this book… how coincidental that it is about unsatisfying academic life…')

… so i kind of felt like that was a red flag

Would have preferred it if the tone was somewhat different, maybe black comedy too much to ask, but perhaps something more muted than the "Ah Stoner, Ah humanity!" that we get.

Reading speedboat right now and loving it

yeah, just read it, so good.

also reading Speedboat. This might be my new favourite sentence of all time:

"I stole a wash cloth once from a motel in Angkor Wat."

i should reread that book some less sad weekend than the one i read it

A quick search on Qiu Miaojin brings up:

http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/chinese/notes-of-a-crocodile

^ Reading p good so far.

Has anyone here tried to suggest anything to them?

Yes, had a friendly email exchange with an editor there - I was pushing Image of a Drawn Sword by Jocelyn Brooke but it stalled somewhere up or down the editorial line.

I loved John Galt's 'The Member' -- very cynical political satire

I read "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J.G. Farrell, checked it out from the library solely bc it was a NYRB but wasn't sure about it because it looked like bland historical fiction. I ended up loving it, it's incredibly dark comedy - basically all these British people get trapped in their compound in India during a mutiny and things get more and more disgusting and terrible.

Farrell is the best, check out The Singapore Grip and Troubles. The latter won the Lost Booker prize a while back and is every bit as good as Siege...

I had "The Singapore Grip" out from the library too but didn't get to it before the due date.

It's more expansive than the previous two novels and does a better job with the colonial "other", who are just shadowy presences in Siege... and Troubles. It does sacrifice some of the claustrophobia and hysteria of the other two, though.

i bought siege because hilary mantel said it was one of her favorite historical novels

description makes it sound good!! i hadn't figured it was comedy. i don't know what i thought it was. the british edition's cover is v offputting though

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Talock3zL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_.jpg

its 'black comedy' i think. i liked 'singapore grip' better fwiw, thought the characters were better and the story a little more engaging

i read like a quarter of 'the long ships' in the bookstore the other day it was so rad

― max, Thursday, August 5, 2010 12:39 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha i just came here to ask whether you had read it because it seemed like your cup of tea.

did you finish? recommended?

its on my to-read list. ari read it and loved it

it's not young adult, is it?

ari is an adult woman

stop bragging

so "speedboat" is good?

discussed on this thread

renata adler

i didn't love it fwiw

it's real good