Whoa I had no idea she wrote it that late in life.
― JoeStork, Monday, 24 December 2018 19:45 (five years ago) link
The otherwise immaculately detailed Ferrante book knocked me out of it briefly last night when the narration alluded to AIDS being a topic of conversation in 1980, which is very unlikely, even avant la lettre.
― I have measured out my life in coffee shop loyalty cards (silby), Monday, 24 December 2018 20:22 (five years ago) link
I made a fairly serious attempt to read The White Goddess many years ago, mainly because it was a big thing for Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, and I was very interested in them at that time. I maybe managed about a third of it. It was unreadable tosh. Putting it mildly, Graves's gifts did not include a capacity for logical argument or the marshalling of evidence.
I've recently finished Cassandra at the Wedding, which on the whole I enjoyed even though it turned out to be a bit weirder and less good than it promised in the early pages.
Now reading The Echoing Grove by Rosamond Lehmann.
― frankiemachine, Tuesday, 25 December 2018 13:04 (five years ago) link
Aimless, not to be a pedant but Jansson was Finnish, not Swedish (though she did write in Swedish). Seconding The True Deceiver, that's an amazing novel, but of course it's also very weird for me to imagine someone coming to her work without first having read the moomins books.
After My Brilliant Friend I'm switching to a different epic series and the second volume of Miklo Banffy's Transsylvanian Trilogy. Was quite worried I wouldn't remember enough from the 500 page first volume which I read more than a year ago but it only took a few pages for the characters to feel like old friends. These books are so good you guys.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 27 December 2018 20:00 (five years ago) link
Seconding the Banffys here.
I seem to be ending the year on a Simenon/Maigret binge, catching up before the last year of new translations starts.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Thursday, 27 December 2018 22:56 (five years ago) link
I got <i>My Friend Maigret</i> for x-mas! Also watched the first of the Jean Gabin adaptations, a story I had previously seen acted out by Mr.Bean.
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 28 December 2018 10:15 (five years ago) link
There's a late 50s version of The Man Who Watched the Trains go by with Herbert Lom. Think it's quite good but it is a long time since I saw it.That's Simenon but not Maigret.
― Stevolende, Friday, 28 December 2018 15:14 (five years ago) link
It is time for the Winter 2019 WAYR thread to arrive. If there is not such a thing already in place later today I'll try to spawn one.
― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 1 January 2019 17:19 (five years ago) link
Here it is: 2019 Winter: The What Are You Reading thread that came in from the cold. Have at it.
― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 1 January 2019 18:56 (five years ago) link