the two from "gritty american novels" i've read (nightmare alley and on the yard) are both pretty incredible
thought about ordering the picture book collection for my daughter's bday but i think she's still a little young for them
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:19 (eleven years ago) link
also: all those K. Amis titles (I haven't read The Alteration)
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:20 (eleven years ago) link
The Green Man is good. So is The Old Devils but it's ponderous in spots.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:21 (eleven years ago) link
The Alteration is great. So are the Esther Averill children's books.
― ashcans (askance johnson), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:24 (eleven years ago) link
does nyrb have a bookshop in manhattan or am i imagining that? the google maps result for it looks like offices.
― caek, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:25 (eleven years ago) link
Don't know about Manhattan but I believe there are places with a lot of their books in some of the other boroughs
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:31 (eleven years ago) link
ha thx. i think i had probably confused nyrb and lrb.
― caek, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:33 (eleven years ago) link
is stoner really good
― auscozeichnet (cozen), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:37 (eleven years ago) link
I liked it up until the end which kind of ruined it for me.
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
i am 20pp in so who knows, but it comes recommended by tom hanks and time magazine, and i have seen about five people reading it on the columbia campus in three weeks.
― caek, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
the international rise in the prominence of stoner is fascinating/weird.
― ashcans (askance johnson), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
you forgot morris dickstein. (xp)
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
I liked Stoner enough to read his novel on Augustus lol
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
I still need to read warlock and 30 years war
― auscozeichnet (cozen), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
i read stoner a year or two ago and honestly have very little memory of it. read warlock instead (or first, at least).
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:44 (eleven years ago) link
You guys have sold me on Warlock but but never got around to reading the library copy I had. Still gotta finish The Long Ships.
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:47 (eleven years ago) link
oh god i didnt realize stoner was by the guy who wrote augustus! i liked augustus, actually
― max, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
the best nyrb book I've read is The Fountain Overflows, you should all read it.
― ashcans (askance johnson), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
I did too but I had to overcome my addition to Vidal's approach to history (specifically in Julian).
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 17:53 (eleven years ago) link
Argh, I tried to read Augustus and hated it so fucking much. I hope Stoner is better.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
i didnt like 'stoner' at all, probably because its deeply stupid
'speedboat' was the best of the recentish stuff i've read from them. i'd also recommend 'the murderess'
― google glasses (Lamp), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 19:08 (eleven years ago) link
I admired its modest attempt to sketch the life of a mediocrity.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
Was hoping Stoner would get some tough love from his creator near the end but as it turned out any pretense of authorial distance collapsed completely. (xp)
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 19:17 (eleven years ago) link
Ah, Stoner! Ah, Humanity!
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 19:18 (eleven years ago) link
i've got speedboat and pitch dark lined up to read soon
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 20:03 (eleven years ago) link
you're all stoners
― auscozeichnet (cozen), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 22:35 (eleven years ago) link
Hard Rain Falling is great as well, haven't read Nightmare Alley
― JoeStork, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 23:55 (eleven years ago) link
Nightmare Alley was incredible--the movie was pretty good too
― mimicking regular benevloent (sic) users' names (President Keyes), Thursday, 18 July 2013 00:22 (eleven years ago) link
Film of Nightmare Alley is pretty great, believe it was some sort of vanity project for Tyrone Powers, afraid the book won't live up.
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:18 (eleven years ago) link
oh, the book was better
― mimicking regular benevloent (sic) users' names (President Keyes), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:21 (eleven years ago) link
OK, it's going back into the indefinite detention center holding pen book pile reading list.
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:24 (eleven years ago) link
Has anyone read The Three Christs of Ypsilanti?
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:25 (eleven years ago) link
I added an 's' to Tyrone Power's name, sorry.
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:28 (eleven years ago) link
xpost granted I hadn't seen the film yet when I read the book, so when I saw the movie I was looking through those "they left out that part I liked" glasses
― mimicking regular benevloent (sic) users' names (President Keyes), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:28 (eleven years ago) link
Note that J. Hoberman said that the film "is neither a great movie nor even a classic noir but it has a great ambition to be daring and, once seen, is not easily forgotten."
― Orpheus in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 18 July 2013 01:31 (eleven years ago) link
It's interesting and distressing in equal parts, but also a bit too long--skimmed the second half. Hard for any book to match up to its premise, to be fair: 'True story of 3 mental patients who all believe they're Jesus sharing a house! Hijinks ensue!'
― ornamental cabbage (James Morrison), Thursday, 18 July 2013 02:10 (eleven years ago) link
i don't really know anything about searls still, but as far as i'm concerned he is probably 100% otm from being editor/selector of thoreau's journals:
http://conversationalreading.com/damion-searls-top-ten-nyrb-classics/
To avoid needless repetition, please cut and paste in your mind the following sentence into all ten descriptions below: “It passes the bounds of human understanding how good this book is.”
― j., Saturday, 27 July 2013 04:24 (eleven years ago) link
the patrick leigh fermor books are all so so so great
― caek, Saturday, 27 July 2013 04:26 (eleven years ago) link
^^ agree
― Aimless, Saturday, 27 July 2013 04:38 (eleven years ago) link
The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos HardcoverPatrick Leigh Fermor (Author)
This title will be released on September 12, 2013.
― caek, Saturday, 27 July 2013 04:45 (eleven years ago) link
that's the uk edition. hope there's an nyrb ed too
Another Melville House hijack - anyone had the chance to look at their Neversink Library titles?
http://www.mhpbooks.com/series/the-neversink-library/?id=506
― etc, Sunday, 1 September 2013 21:41 (eleven years ago) link
Definitely seek out the Irmgard Keun, Ödön von Horváth, Raymond Radiguet, Simenon and the Strugatsky Bros books. I have a couple of the others but haven't read them yet.
― ornamental cabbage (James Morrison), Monday, 2 September 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
3 NYRBC books on the Kindle Daily Deal today: Stoner, Inverted World, and Rogue Male
― I got the glares, the mutterings, the snarls (President Keyes), Saturday, 9 November 2013 10:54 (ten years ago) link
Stoner is marvelous.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 9 November 2013 12:36 (ten years ago) link
i'm reading one on kindle now. fatale by jean-patrick manchette. it's short.
― single white hairball (harbl), Saturday, 9 November 2013 14:05 (ten years ago) link
stoner and rogue male are both fantastic if very different.
― adam, Saturday, 9 November 2013 15:49 (ten years ago) link
Came to say Inverted World is a popular title around here.
― The Killer Inside Meme (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 November 2013 15:54 (ten years ago) link
One thing I like about the NYRB ebooks is that they have the same cover art and intros and afterwords and such as the print version, so you really are giving up as little as possible. Might end up buying the ebook and hand my print copy over to a lucky ilxor.
― I Wanna Be Blecch (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 November 2013 21:11 (ten years ago) link
That edition of Inverted World and its afterward by John Clute really made me want to read anything by Christopher Priest, M. John Harrison or J. G. Ballard and anything praised by John Clute. OK, maybe it is hard to read all of Ballard and maybe Clute gives out too many positive reviews but I don't think I was too far off.
― I Wanna Be Blecch (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 November 2013 21:47 (ten years ago) link