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Author Topic: Rate the last book you read.  (Read 194323 times)

verbALs

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #830 on: January 01, 2012, 03:46:12 AM »
Good Country People & Revelation- Flannery O'Connor

Two short stories from a collection of her complete short stories. I thought I would comment on themes & style and then see how these develop/ cohere through the entire volume.

The strongest impression was that the emphasis on the first person narrative that is the strength of literature generally is being brutally exploited in her work. In both stories the perspective of the narrator, which is naturally flawed means they cannot see that their faults lead them into trouble. In the first an academically learned girl is deceived by the same "good country people" she despises and looks down upon. In the second, the near stream of conciousness conversation in a country surgery waiting room leads to an attack, which is inexplicable to the pious lady involved.

O'Connor writes some deliciously dark descriptions of the thoughts in peoples' heads. In doing so she reveals the ways in which people undermine themselves and how their egotistical self-centred views of the world can hurt them. Neither of the offended characters ends the stories having their selfism diminished and they certainly aren't learning from what happens. In both cases, O'Connor creates claustrophobically small world situations where people feel safe in their own little worlds, until something "other" comes from outside their experience to hurt them. Similarly, the attack is from the younger generation, as if these new people don't play by the same rules as "good country people". That psychosis of "the killer inside", of petty criminality reminded me strongly of Jim Thompson. A casual darkness.
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oldkid

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #831 on: January 01, 2012, 03:50:56 AM »
Those themes you mention seem strong in the story A Good Man is Hard To Find as well.

Have you read her first novel Wise Blood?
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verbALs

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #832 on: January 01, 2012, 05:43:35 AM »
A Good Man Is Hard To Find & Everything That Rises Must Converge are the next ones I am going to read. These are the first I have read. Very much my kinda thing.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

oldkid

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #833 on: January 01, 2012, 02:42:43 PM »
I love her writing.  I'm pretty sure OAD does too.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

verbALs

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #834 on: January 02, 2012, 04:29:35 AM »
I love her writing.  I'm pretty sure OAD does too.
It was her recommendation to read those stories in particular, so I thought I'd better write to let her know I had finally read them.
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worm@work

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #835 on: January 02, 2012, 05:03:00 AM »
The Pale King - D F Wallace

It's hard to know how to feel about a novel that is so obviously not what we would have seen had the author been present to present their complete vision. Instead we have an assortment of chapters and stories, assembled as best as possible, through indications in the text itself and accompanying notes, but it ends up inevitably falling short.

There are moments of sheer brilliance, some of which I wouldn't mind discussing in greater detail, although I'm also aware that the joy I experienced from some of those moments was their surprise, so I'm of a mind to keep them unspoiled. In fact, more than just moments, I would say that there are longer chapters that are wonderful, but the connective tissue doesn't hold together, and so the experience is lesser. Even tho Brief Interviews With Hideous Men shot mostly entirely past me, it was still a more cohesive and powerful experience than The Pale King.

I think I might just go and be all sad an shit.

I haven't read Pale King yet and am slowly making my way through Brief Interviews which I started a couple of weeks ago while on vacation. But this part-remembrance / part-review by one of his former students just broke my heart.

verbALs

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #836 on: January 02, 2012, 08:46:40 AM »
A Good Man Is Hard To Find & Everything That Rises Must Converge are the next ones I am going to read. These are the first I have read. Very much my kinda thing.
Wow, these are beautifully dark. The line "you aren't who you think you are" ends up being a murder weapon.
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oneaprilday

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #837 on: January 02, 2012, 07:33:22 PM »
I love her writing.  I'm pretty sure OAD does too.
It was her recommendation to read those stories in particular, so I thought I'd better write to let her know I had finally read them.
Ooo, yay! So excited to read some of your initial thoughts.  Will return to write more when I have time.

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #838 on: January 04, 2012, 01:31:05 PM »
Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicles Day 2) - Patrick Rothfuss

Everything I said about the previous book in the series applies here. It's episodic to the maxx, which isn't a bad thing, but it makes for halting reading. It works when the episode is good (the false gypsy camp late in the book is a good example) but there are a few that take way too long to get through. We start to see more cracks in the Kvothe armor. And it's interesting to consider that he's an unreliable narrator. This series has been hailed as one of the saviors of the Fantasy genre. I don't buy it. It's fine, not messianic.
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pixote

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #839 on: January 04, 2012, 01:46:26 PM »
I believe his best, and the best American novel ever written, is Absalom, Absalom. I haven't read it, and when I tried I had too difficult of a time penetrating Faulkner's writing style, but my one former professor swears by the merits of Absalom. And this guy, he's old and wizened, and knows everything (even if I didn't agree with him about a number of things), so I have little reason to question him.

Absalom, Absalom is maybe the only book I've ever read that was a thoroughly exhausting chore to get through but also had me wanting to reread it again the instant I was done. I really, really liked it, though it's definitely not as accessible as As I Lay Dying and The Sound of the Fury.

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