Now that the modernist boot camp that was Woolf in Winter is over, I'm happy to bring you news of ten more shared reads I'll be participating in through the end of the year to be co-hosted with my blogging buddies Claire of kiss a cloud, Emily of Evening All Afternoon, Frances of Nonsuch Book, and Sarah of what we have here is a failure to communicate. I hope that each and all of you who read this will consider joining us for discussion of at least one of the following books, so here's a list of the titles (and the names of the people who proposed them, for those interested in that sort of book psychology thing!) for you to look over to help you decide.
March: Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana (Frances)
April: Georges Perec's Life a User's Manual (me!)
May: Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels (Sarah)
June: Gabriel Josipovici's Moo Pak (Emily)
July: Kenzaburo Oe's A Personal Matter (Claire)
August: William Carlos Williams' In the American Grain (Frances)
September: Tómas Eloy Martínez's Santa Evita (me!)
October: Tobias Wolff's Old School (Sarah)
November: Ricardas Gavelis' Vilnius Poker (Emily)
December: Gabriel García Márquez's Clandestine in Chile (Claire)
Since this'll mostly be a laid-back affair befitting a book group that doesn't even have a name, feel free to leave a comment here or at any of the other host blogs if you think you'd like to join us for a particular read or if you have any questions. Since all our "conversations" will take place on the last Friday of each month, you could also just read the work and then tell us about it if you want to join in the fun but not the commitment. Although I'm stoked to continue reading on with such a great group of bloggers, it'd be cool if you could join us too. Please think about it!
Have all the titles now except for Clandestine in Chile and am completely stoked about our plans. The size of that Perec is a bit daunting in comparison to its neighbors in the stack but we have been this route before, right?
ResponderBorrarLookin' forward to it, friend! Decompressing with some more traditional, realist lit right now so I will be able to fully enjoy Perec come April. :-)
ResponderBorrarJust placed an order at the library for The Night of the Iguana! It sounds good!
ResponderBorrarI'd like to join in at least for March and possibly all others with the exception of April, which sounds a little too outre for me (not the month, the book).
ResponderBorrarI've been wanting to read the perec for ages but don't know if I will be able to swing it for April. It will all depend on how much reading I have to do for school. I have read Moo Pak not long ago and loved it. You are in for a treat with that one!
ResponderBorrar*Frances: The Perec's certainly chunkier than the others I've seen, but I think you'll find it reads a lot quicker than it looks (based on my run through the first 150 pages or so before halting for the readalong). I still have to acquire 7 of our titles, but it's all exciting stuff to be sure!
ResponderBorrar*Emily: Glad you and Frances are as geeked up as I am! And it's really funny to see what people are decompressing with after Woolf in Winter and the sudden infusion of time on one's hands again. In my case, that would be the Evening All Afternoon-approved 18th century trashterpiece known as The Monk!
*E.L. Fay: Super happy you'll be joining us for Night of the Iguana! Hope your library carries that spiffy new green New Directions edition, which is a real pleasure for the senses.
*Jill: Great news! By the way, since Life a User's Manual was one of Roberto Bolaño's all-time favorite novels, I'm somehow not surprised that it doesn't sound like your cup of tea. Still chuffed that you'll be joining us for Tennessee Wms and maybe all the rest, though!
*Stefanie: Hope you'll be able to join us for the Perec if it turns out you have some extra time in April--it's actually one of the two novels I've been most looking forwarding to reading all year. Also, I'm almost positive that we owe you a thanks for Moo Pak being on the list--I think Emily mentioned your review of it as one of the things that sold her on it or first sparked her interest in it or something like that. So, thanks!
Oh, I love The Monk too, and he looks absolutely fantastic atop your blog.
ResponderBorrarHave been reading all of the Perec posts from January and February over at Words Without Borders as a warm up to actual reading. And Bolano's The Skating Rink. Then a bit of Auster But some book club commitments too. Obviously, I need to turn the computer off now.
I think The Monk might be the longest-owned book in my TBR pile, Frances, so I'm glad to hear that it's Nonsuch Book-approved on top of all its other charms (I'm reading the Oxford World Classics edition with that handsome cover because the glue on my much traveled, ugly old Grove Press version was starting to separate from the binding as I read it, tsk tsk)! Will have to look for those Perec posts you mention, and I'll stay tuned for what you think of the Auster and Bolaño.
ResponderBorrarI would love to join you for at least one; the novel that pops out at me right away is Kenzaburo Oe's A Personal Matter. It also fits in with the Japanese Literature Challenge 4, which I host every year, and begins in July. What an exciting list of books you all have put together. I love Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, but I've not read The Night of The Iguana. I'll be by to read the thoughts on each novel, of course.
ResponderBorrarThanks for posting the list. It was so much fun being part of the fray for Woolf in Winter. I may join you for Perec, who has been on my TBR list for almost a year. Wasn't he part of the Oulipo school? Got to think about this; I already signed up for The Brothers Karamazov with Dolce Belleza--but that will be a second reading... so, um, uh...
ResponderBorrar*Bellezza: Glad to hear you'll be following along vicariously and hopefully joining us for the Oe! The five of us were all pretty excited about our picks, but it's been nice to see what books are attracting interest from others. P.S. I have books by Natsuo Kirino, Mishima, and Murakami (all firsts by each author for me) in the works this year if all goes well, so maybe I'll be able to participate in JLC 4 when the time comes.
ResponderBorrar*Julia: I hope the Perec works out for you because it'd be great to have you reading alongside us on that one! I realize that reading that and The Brothers Karamozov in the same month would require a big commitment, though. I've chickened out in advance regarding trying to read both novels at the same time because I want to leave some time for my Spanish reading in April, but both Frances and Sarah will be bravely taking on both chunksters simultaneously. And yes, Perec was one of the founders of the OULIPO movement and probably its biggest name after Calvino. Cheers!
Richard, please join in this July; I'd so love to have your thoughts!!! Murakami is so beloved to me, I hardly have words to express my affection without embarrassing myself. The challenge only requires one read; if participants want to read more of course they're not limited, and it begins in July. I'll be by to invite you, as the time comes around again. I wonder which Murakami you have, as it's one of my goals to read all of his works this year.
ResponderBorrarThanks for your comment on my The Waves Post. Your dislike of Led Zep might be a deal-breaker though! :) I really wanted to like it, but the language just made me feel really tired, and bored. I'm going to read it again though, one day, because if nearly everyone else likes it, then I must be missing "something".
ResponderBorrar*Bellezza: Thanks, count me in for July then! How could I turn down an invitation as warm as that? :D Barring another purchase before then, my first Murakami will be The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Very much looking forward to it, too!
ResponderBorrar*Violet: You're welcome! Although we'll have to agree to disagree on Zeppelin then (!), I really admire your stamina trying to figure out what you might be "missing" in The Waves. I'm done with that one, but I do look forward to reading a little more Woolf down the road. Cheers!
I must say, I'm VERY tempted! I don't even know about ANY of these books, but I do recognize some authors. WiW was so much fun - I'm so glad you came by to comment on my Woolf post so I could have a great excuse to check out more here. I'll be back, I'm making note of this read along and THANK YOU.
ResponderBorrarCare, it'd be great if you could join us for one or more of these! Hope things work out that way and thanks for dropping by regardless. Cheers!
ResponderBorrarI'm halfway through Life A User's Manual, and I'm really getting into it. I look forward to discussing it with you, and the others, in a few days. Who wouldn't love Perec, with hair like that which half resembles my Italian locks before they were tamed? :)
ResponderBorrarBellezza, so glad to hear you found time to join us! And of course, I'm equally glad to hear you're enjoying the novel so far. Perec's great untamed mane is a nice throwback to the days when writers weren't all airbrushed image-conscious types, no?
ResponderBorrar