SCFZ

I read 9 kids books. 7 kids books about why libraries are great (they're perfect comfort food, pour moi) and 2 bedtime books. I also read:

— On the Abolition of All Political Parties (Simone Weil, 1943) - Persuasive critique of political party organizations as inherently productive of lying, and thus, in need of abolition.
— Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics (C.S. Lewis, 1919) - Compelling, revealing Great War poetry.
— Asian Pop Cinema: Bombay to Tokyo (Lee Server, 1999) - Very good introduction to contemporary Asian cinema, especially but not exclusively Asian genre cinema, circa 1999. Taught me a lot.
— The Dream of a Democratic Culture: Mortimer J. Adler and the Great Books Idea (Tim Lacy, 2013) - The great book about the Great Books. Essential reading for anyone interested in the Culture Wars or in embarking on a Great Books reading project.

Going to try to make next month more reading focused than viewing focused, though a bit of both is always welcome.

Long Way Down (Jason Reynolds)

I finally did some personal reading! After my exam. So....

A Concise History of the World Since 1945; WM Spellman
The Crying of Lot 49; Thomas Pynchon
Watching the Wheels; Simon Morris
Boudica; Tristan Bernays (NB: I was acting in a production of this so I read it many times)
Plus; Joseph McElroy

Currently reading:
Richard III; William Shakespeare
with As You Like It; King Lear; The Winter's Tale coming up for university also.

Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II (Mukerjee)
Hiroshima (Hersey)
Kokoro (Natsume)
Catch-22 (Heller)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (Welles)
Eugene Onegin (Pushkin)

For Every One (Jason Reynolds) | So short, but so especial. I needed this read.
We Should All Be Feminists (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) | Just essential. Second time I read only this year.
The Arrangements (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) | Chimamanda shouldn't use her talent writing dull and forgettable things like this, neither i wasting my time reading.

the hero (baltasar gracián) ***
altarpiece of avarice, lust and death (ramón del valle-inclán) ***
the discreet one (baltasar gracián) ***
quijongo (max jiménez) ***
the trail of the serpent (mary elizabeth braddon) *****
historias of artámila (ana maría matute) ***
a simple story (leonardo sciascia) ****

also read a bunch of things by juan goytisolo:
the virtues of the solitary bird ***
quarantine ****
the marx family saga ****
state of siege *****
weeks in the garden ****

Hi can you guys stop reading fifty books per month and making me feel like a dummy? Thxxxxxx

I read like 70% of Dreiser's The Financier. It's top tier. As good as An American Tragedy

July 2019

Transit [first German language edition, 1948] (Anna Seghers / 1944 / Mexico / German / German) - 6.5/10
Utage no ato “Nach dem Bankett” [translated by Sachiko Yatsushiro] (Yukio Mishima / 1960 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7/10
Wyrd Sisters (Terry Pratchett / 1988 / UK / English / English) - 6/10
Fatal Attraction (Suzanne Leonard / 2009 / UK / English / English) - 5/10
Helmut Käutner (Peter Cornelsen / 1980 / West Germany / German / German) 5.5/10
Jürgen (Heinz Strunk / 2017 / Germany / German / German) - 6.5/10
Les vacances de Maigret “Maigret macht Ferien” [translated by Jean Raimond, Bärbel Brands] (Georges Simenon / 1948 / France / French / German) - 6.5/10
La joueuse d’echecs “Die Schachspielerin” [translated by Claudia Steinitz] (Bertina Henrichs / 2005 / France / French / German) - 5.5/10
Le cinema de papa “Papas Kino” [translated by Karin Schulze] (Jean-Bernard Pouy / 1989 / France / French / German) - 5.5/10
Tsugumi [translated by Annelie Ortmanns] (Banana Yoshimoto / 1989 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7.5/10
Maigret et Monsieur Charles “Maigret et Monsieur Charles” [translated by Renate Heimbucher] (Georges Simenon / 1972 / France / French / German) - 6/10
The Cronicle History of Henry the fift (William Shakespeare / 1599 / London / English / English) - 6.5/10
To imerologio, mias aioniotitas “Tagebuch einer Ewigkeit” [translated by Michaela Prinzinger] (Petros Markaris / 1998 / Greece / Greek / German) - 7/10 ♥
Sweet Hereafter “Lebensgeister” [translated by Thomas Eggenberg] (Banana Yoshimoto / 2011 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7/10
Fantomas. Beiträge zur Panik des 20. Jahrhunderts (Thomas Brandlmeier / 2007 / Germany / German / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
Wie ein Mangobaumwunder (Andor Nemeth, Arthur Koestler / 1932 / Germany / German / German) - 7/10 ♥
Les exploits d’un jeune Don Juan "Die Großtaten eines jungen Don Juan" [translated by Eberhard Wesemann] (Guillaume Apollinaire / 1911 / France / French / German) - 5.5/10
Ganz unten (Günter Wallraff / 1985 / West Germany / German / German) - 7/10
La pipe de Maigret “Maigrets Pfeife“ [translated by Karl-Heinz Ott] (Georges Simenom / 1947 / France / French / German) - 6.5/10
Laissez bronzer les cadavres! "Laßt die Kadaver bräunen!" [translated by Katarina Grän, Ronald Voullie] (Jean-Pierre Bastid, Jean-Patrick Manchette / 1971 / France / French / German) - 6.5/10


Sorry bure! Still, it were merely 20 last month.

To be honest, I'm just barely in line with my "reading goal" for 2019, which is to read two books per week and arrive at a minimum of 100 read at the end of the year (currently we're in the 31st week of 2019 and I've finished 62 books).

12 kids books, of which two might catch people's fancies 'round here: Mr. Benjamin's Suitcase of Secrets (about Walter Benjamin) and Lights! Camera! Alice!: The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker (about Alice Guy-Blaché). And then three grown-up titles:

A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939–1940 (Iris Origo)
This America: The Case for the Nation(Jill Lepore)
Wittgenstein's Mistress (David Markson)

Evelyn wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 11:28 am Wittgenstein's Mistress (David Markson)

whoa, i was just going to reread that today!

flip wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 11:58 am

Evelyn wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 11:28 am Wittgenstein's Mistress (David Markson)

whoa, i was just going to reread that today!

Not a favourite of mine, but it was neat. Kate's retracing of the same memory lanes over and over can get tiresome and got-the-point-already, such that I think I'd like the novel more if pared down to half its length, but still a nice portrait of how mental illness and loneliness can impact one's philosophical worldview and vice-versa.

undersea, paul hazel
winterking, paul hazel
a severed head, iris murdoch
rocannon's world, ursula k le guin
planet of exile, ursula k le guin
city of illusion, ursula k le guin

the paul hazel finnbranch thing is exactly the kind of wildly ambitious, almost unclassifiable book you hope to find when reading obscure genre stuff.

Evelyn wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:06 pm Not a favourite of mine

i haven't read it in years, but last i did, i thought it the most persuasive example of experimental fiction i'd found in american writing (perhaps along with gaddis). i'll see what i think this time!

The Thin Man (Hammett)♥
Cotton Comes to Harlem (Himes) ♥
The Shock Doctrine (Klein)♥
Great Expectations (Dickens)
Goliath - Life and Loathing in greater Israel (Blumenthal)♥
My friend Maigret (Simenon)
In the Café of Lost Youth (Modiano)
The Bookshop (Fitzgerald)

telón de boca (juan goytisolo) **
the governesses (anne serre) ****
jamaica inn (daphne du maurier) ***
the ordeal of gilbert pinfold (evelyn waugh) [reread] **
religio medici/urne buriall (thomas browne) ****
aurora/cardinal point (michel leiris) ****
autobiography of a brown buffalo (oscar zeta acosta) ***
the blacker the berry (wallace thurmond) **
positions with white roses (ursule molinaro) ***
the black prince (iris murdoch) **

iris murdoch really shouldn’t write in first person because she sucks at it and just can’t bridge to the postmodern things she wants to do because it comes off as way too strained and overt. it’s a shame because something like the bell was really good and everything else i’ve read by her has been disappointing. jamaica inn had the opposite effect of rebecca for me: started off really strong and then just fell apart at the end. i’ll give a shot to frenchman’s creek in another month or so.

AUG (2)
katinka (herman bang) - 9/10
the financier (theodore dreiser) - 10/10 (top ten all-time)

August 2019

Der Mäusetöter (Mario Adorf / 1992 / Germany / German / German) - 7/10 ♥
Marketa Lazarova "Marketa und Miklas" [translated by Josef Hahn] (Vladislav Vancura / 1931 / Czechoslovakia / Czech / German) - 7/10
A Pal utcai fiuk "Die Jungen der Paulstraße" [translated by Edmund Alkalay] (Ferenc Molnar / 1906 / Hungary / Hungarian / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
N.P. [translated by Annelie Ortmanns-Suzuki] (Banana Yoshimoto / 1990 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 6/10
This Will Kill You “Das wird dich töten“ [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Patrick Quentin / 1948 / USA / English / German) - 6.5/10
The Best Policy “Der klügste Entschluß” [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Ferenc Molnar / 1941 / UK / English / German) - 6/10
Too Early For Murder “Niemand kann das verlangen” [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Frances Lockridge, Richard Lockridge / 1956 / USA / English / German) - 6.5/10
The Case of the Crimson Kiss “Der blutrote Kuß” [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Erle Stanley Gardner / 1948 / USA / English / German) - 6.5/10
How Does Your Garden Grow? “Wie gedeiht ihr Garten?” [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Agatha Christie / 1935 / USA / English / German) - 7/10 ♥
It Takes a Thief “Da kam ein Dieb“ [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Arthur Miller / 1947 / USA / English / German) - 6/10
Maihime “Die Tänzerin“ [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1890 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
Fushinchu “Im Umbau“ [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1910 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 6.5/10
Mori Ogai. Die Tänzerin [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori [publisher: Suhrkamp Verlag] / 1994 / Germany / Japanese, German / German) - 7/10 ♥
Rabok “Die Diebin“ [translated by Ernst Goth] (Ferenc Molnar / 1907 / Hungary / Hungarian / German) - 8.5/10
Brennendes Geheimnis (Stefan Zweig / 1911 / Germany / German / German) - 7/10
Die Legende vom heiligen Trinker (Joseph Roth / 1939 / Netherlands / German / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
A Guest in the House “Böse Gäste“ [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (John Dickson Carr / 1940 / UK / English / German) - 6.5/10
Das wird dich töten. Eine Auswahl der besten Kriminalstories aus Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine [translated by Hans P. Thomas] (Diverse [publisher: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag] / 1961 / West Germany / English / German) - 7/10
Honkakubo ibun “Der Tod des Teemeisters” [translated by Ursula Gräfe] (Yasushi Inoue / 1981 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
L’homme facile “Der leichte Mann” [translated by Werner von Grünau] (Catherine Breillat / 1968 / France / French / German) - 6.5/10
The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams / 1945 / USA / English / English) - 6.5/10
Vendegjatek Bolzanoban “Die Gräfin von Parma” [translated by Renee von Stipsicz-Gariboldi, Hanna Siehr] (Sandor Marai / 1940 / Hungary / Hungarian / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
Der Leviathan (Joseph Roth / 1938 / France / German / German) - 6/10
Joseph Roth. Die Legende vom heiligen Trinker. Der Leviathan. Zwei Novellen. (Joseph Roth [[publisher: Fischer, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rohwolt] / 2003 / Germany / German / German) - 6.5/10

Tales of Jacob (Mann)
Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky)
A Room of One's Own (Woolf)
First Love and Other Stories (Turgenev) ♥
Home of the Gentry (Turgenev)♥
My Life in the PLO: The Inside Story of the Palestinian Struggle (Al-hout)

billy budd and other stories (herman melville) ***** [some of these were so-so, but most were great]
black boy (richard wright) **** [excellent at the beginning, starts to drag toward the end]
sartor resartus (thomas carlyle) *****
the house of the seven gables (nathaniel hawthorne) ***
metropole (ferenc kartinthy) ** [has about 15 really compelling pages, another 15 that are good, and the rest...]
piers plowman (william langland) **
the death of the heart (elizabeth bowen) **
the temple of dawn (yukio mishima) * [i think i'm about done with mishima]
yawar fiesta (josé maría arguedas) ****
the sundial (shirley jackson) ***

September 2019

Therese Desqueyroux “Die Tat der Therese Desqueyroux“ [translated by G. Cramer] (Francois Mauriac / 1927 / France / French / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
Fright (George Hopley / 1950 / USA / English / English) - 7/10
Pogled s strani (Slavoj Zizek / 1988 / Yugoslavia / Slovene / Slovene) - 8/10 ♥
Hans Moser (Karin Wichmann / 1980 / West Germany / German / German) - 6.5/10
Le desert de l’amour “Die Einöde der Liebe“ [translated by G. Cramer] (Francois Mauriac / 1925 / France / French / German) - 6.5/10
Röda rummet “Das rote Zimmer“ [translated by Hilde Rubinstein] (August Strindberg / 1879 / Sweden / Swedish / German) - 7.5/10 ♥
Utakata no ki “Wellenschaum” [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1890 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7.5/10 ♥

hahahahahahahah what a fucking weak month

SEP (1)
money (victoria benedictsson) - 8/10

don't worry guys, this month i'll KILL IT. but really, i might

bure420 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 6:31 pm don't worry guys, this month i'll KILL IT. but really, i might

update: i didn't

OCT (2)
you know you want this (kristen roupenian) - 10/10
pan (knut hamsun) - 8/10

pornografia (witold gombrowicz) **
emilio's carnival (italo svevo) **
beuvard and pécuchet (gustave flaubert) *****
mount analogue (rené daumal) **
the good soldier švejk (hašek) ****
the children's crusade (marcel schwob) ***
the comforters (muriel spark) ***
not without laughter (langston hughes) **
in the dutch mountains (cees nooteboom) ***
lady audley's secret (mary elizabeth braddon) ***

UNCLE SILAS (Le Fanu)
DEVICES AND DESIRES (James)

can't and won't (lydia davis)
black leopard, red wolf (marlon james)
nova swing (m john harrison)
elric of melnibone (michael moorcock)

October 2019

Fumizukai “Der Bote” [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1891 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7/10 ♥
Sakazuki “Becher” [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1910 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 7/10 ♥
A Memory of Light (Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan / 2012 / USA / English / English) - 6.5/10
Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern. Erster Band
(Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann / 1819 / Berlin / German / German) - 9/10
The Garden-Party (Katherine Mansfield / 1922 / UK / English / English) - 7/10
Kuro tokage “The Black Lizard“ [translated by Ian Hughes] (Edogawa Ranpo / 1934 / Japan / Japanese / English) - 7/10 ♥
Sanbashi “Die Landungsbrücke” [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1910 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 6/10
Hanako [translated by Wolfgang Schamoni] (Ogai Mori / 1910 / Japan / Japanese / German) - 6.5/10

November 2019

The Three-Day Blow (Ernest Hemingway / 1925 / USA / English / English) - 4/10
La maison du canal “Das Haus am Kanal” [translated by Ursula Vogel] (Georges Simenon / 1933 / France / French / German) - 6.5/10
L’Innocente “Das Opfer” [translated by Virgilio Iafrate] (Gabriele D’Annunzio / 1892 / Italy / Italian / German) - 7/10 ♥
Minotaurus. Eine Ballade (Friedrich Dürrenmatt / 1985 / Switzerland / German / German) - 7/10 ♥
Kurosawa. Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto / 2000 / USA / English / English) - 7/10
The Standard of Living (Dorothy Parker / 1941 / USA / English / English) - 3.5/10
Bella [translated by Efraim Frisch] (Jean Giraudoux / 1926 / France / French / German) - 8/10

Been a while since I posted in here!

NOVEMBER
Peripatet - Grant Maierhofer *****
Just the one this month unfortunately, but I have three 1000-page monsters ongoing (see below). A great book. One of the best I've read in a very, very long time.

CURRENTLY READING:
Ducks, Newburyport - Lucy Ellmann - will finish this by this time next week, I expect. It's a real monster. A great piece of furious writing, perhaps less great than the widespread literary-circle takes had led me to believe, that that's zeitgeist for you. I'm really enjoying it. It could be 100 pages shorter. Some of it is like lucid dreaming.

The William H. Gass Reader - William H. Gass - been on the go for about a year, maybe over a year, now. Aiming to have it done by New Year, but I'm into a long stretch of essays about artists I'm unfamiliar with. Brutal!

The Complete HP Lovecraft - Doing this chronologically. It's good, but I probably will be on the go with this one for another twelve months, maybe more.

UP NEXT
The Overstory; The Mushroom at the End of the World; Paterson; Harlem Smoke

I just finished Ducks, Newburyport yesterday, and I loved it; the cumulative effect is really powerful. Excited for you to tackle the Tsing book, too!