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I think this is the most I've read from one of these polls so far. Tough call between The Plague, In A Lonely Place, The Slaves of Solitude, and Under the Volcano (not counting Dr. Faustus which I abandoned at the halfway mark). Several others that I would like to read, starting with the Fallada. I would probably go with In A Lonely Place, which is gripping, genuinely creepy and has great LA midcentury atmosphere.
― o. nate, Thursday, 4 March 2021 18:45 (three years ago) link
Many fine books on this year's list. I recently read The Mountain Lion and it strikes me as the most perfectly realized and deeply human of the six of these I remember reading, so I voted for it. This could easily be an instance of accessibility bias at work, since most of the others I read much longer ago, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.
Without Seeing The Dawn by Stevan Javanella
Takes me on a trip down memory lane.
― Judge Roi Behan (Aimless), Thursday, 4 March 2021 19:38 (three years ago) link
The Fabulous Clipjoint by Frederic Brown -- lots of daft fun
I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane -- misogynistic balls
The Path To The Nest Of Spiders by Italo Calvino -- unusually realist early novel from Calvino, but still written with his customary grace
Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov -- enjoyably creepy doppelganger totalitarian goings-on
In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes -- one of the best noir novels ever
The Victim by Saul Bellow -- I liked this; again, shorter Bellow is better Bellow
The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck -- another of his fun books, very charming
Eustace And Hilda by L.P. Hartley -- haven't read the other 2 in the trilogy, but this was actually very good
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh -- brilliant and nasty
The Slaves Of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton -- maybe Hamilton's best? One of my favourite books ever. Voting for this.
A View Of The Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor -- God I love her
Whiskey Galore by Compton Mackenzie -- entertaining trifle
The Plague by Albert Camus -- masterpiece
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada -- understandably depressed minor masterpiece
Act Of Passion by Georges Simenon -- one of the great non-Maigrets
The Evenings: A Winter's Tale by Gerard Reve -- dark as fuck, very good
Exercises In Style by Raymond Queneau -- extremely entertaining
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Friday, 5 March 2021 02:36 (three years ago) link