I missed that on the list: it's also a good one!Fun Fact: he wrote time travelling naked people science fiction under a different name.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Tuesday, 12 January 2021 00:26 (three years ago) link
This was a great year. I’m going to vote for cold comfort farm because it’s given me some great laugh out loud moments over several readings. Might not be the greatest novel on the list but it is very funny.
There’s a Kenneth Williams read version the BBC did which is more or less the canonical version for me, I think I first heard it as a book on tape as a child.
― American Fear of Scampos (Ed), Tuesday, 12 January 2021 00:41 (three years ago) link
I just read a plot summary of the Glastonbury romance and I definitely want to find some time to read that.
I'm impressed that Radclyffe Hall was notorious enough to work as a shortcut to telegraph you were portraying lesbianism - The Girls Of Radcliffe Hall by "Adela Quebec" is actually by Lord Berners. "Ah, straight dude writing girl-on-girl smut" I thought, but plot twist! Berners was gay and the female characters in the book are stand-ins for himself and his lovers.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 12 January 2021 11:02 (three years ago) link
Sorry not to see Mauriac's Le Nœud de vipères, only because I will read it in translation shortly.
ive never read grassic gibbon, bit of an oversight as a scotsman
A Scottish friend pressed Grassic Gibbon's trilogy on me, but I didn't read it, and feel guilty to this day.
― alimosina, Tuesday, 12 January 2021 15:54 (three years ago) link
I was reading about The Girls of Radcliffe Hall after we were discussing RH in another of these threads, it's an interesting artefact but I'd probably never read it unless I was actually studying queer fic of the period.
I've read a few of these, some notable omissions that I should read but haven't, but my vote will go to Light In August.
― emil.y, Tuesday, 12 January 2021 16:54 (three years ago) link
Oh! The Radetzky March! There goes my vote.
― meticulously crafted, socially responsible, morally upsta (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2021 17:24 (three years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 13 January 2021 00:01 (three years ago) link
I am going to vote for Time, Forward! because I love a Soviet novel, and I love a project management novel, because it's really good and because I'm the only person I know who's ever read it and that makes me feel all smug.
Surprised you aren't interested in Arlt, xyzzzz.
― Tim, Wednesday, 13 January 2021 10:41 (three years ago) link
I've not read it but anytime I've tried Argie Fantabulism (Arlt, Casares, Ocampo) it's never landed for me, except Borges but he is doing other things too.
My tastes are more on the Argie existential spectrum (Sabato, Di Benedetto).
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 13 January 2021 11:29 (three years ago) link
I've only read "The Seven Madmen" and god knows that was long enough ago but from what I recall it was more a dingy surrealist/expressionist thing than fantabulist thing but as I'm typing these words I'm not sure I could really mark out a clear difference.
This is all covered at length on the "Serpent's Tail Extraordinary Classics" thread which does not exist.
― Tim, Wednesday, 13 January 2021 13:46 (three years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 14 January 2021 00:01 (three years ago) link
Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1933
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 14 January 2021 13:10 (three years ago) link
I’m reading the Radetzky March on the strength of this thread and loving it so far. These threads have been great for picking up reading ideas.
― American Fear of Scampos (Ed), Monday, 25 January 2021 20:31 (three years ago) link
Joseph Roth is just a wonderful writer, one of my favourites.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Tuesday, 26 January 2021 07:19 (three years ago) link
Definitely going to be digging into some more stuff, and recommendations?
― American Fear of Scampos (Ed), Tuesday, 26 January 2021 07:22 (three years ago) link
Legend of the Holy Drinker is a tiny masterpieceThe Emperor's Tomb is a semi-sequel to RMHis main translator, Michael Hofmann, has said that all his books work together as a sort of vast mosaic novel of the collapse of Austro-Hungary, and it's kind of true.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Thursday, 28 January 2021 00:26 (three years ago) link