tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.comments2024-01-02T15:37:04.858-05:00Caravana de recuerdosRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comBlogger6726125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-29796261723296448712023-05-02T14:23:56.622-04:002023-05-02T14:23:56.622-04:00Wow, Tavernier was hardcore. He also directed one...Wow, Tavernier was hardcore. He also directed one of my favorite Jim Thompson film adaptations (<em>Coup de torchon</em>) and <em>Round Midnight</em> for jazz, of course. But a whole line of westerns? He must've meant business.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-67024598115981541152023-05-02T00:08:49.453-04:002023-05-02T00:08:49.453-04:00That volume of Westerns reminds me of an amazing s...That volume of Westerns reminds me of an amazing shelf of books I saw in the book tent at the Lyon film festival. Bertrand Tavernier had edited a series of Westerns in French translation all of which had been made into Hollywood movies. There were a couple dozen titles, most of which had not been in print in English in ages. Another example of the French taking American culture more seriously than Americans do.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-23099482351173503762023-05-01T02:06:45.659-04:002023-05-01T02:06:45.659-04:00I'm pretty wary of both contempo (or near cont...I'm pretty wary of both contempo (or near contempo in this case) American fiction and historical fiction in general so I was thrilled that this so lived up to the hype. It did temporarily postpone a planned Cormac McCarthy/Faulkner combination read I had in mind, but I'm not complaining at all.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-37746043462255490952023-04-30T23:23:50.005-04:002023-04-30T23:23:50.005-04:00The Pynchon review, read long ago when I tracked d...The Pynchon review, read long ago when I tracked down every word of Pynchon, made me curious, too, but I guess not enough to actually read the book, so thanks,Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-72804376754654559062023-04-30T22:12:06.716-04:002023-04-30T22:12:06.716-04:00I've read that Pynchon was a fan of Warlock, w...I've read that Pynchon was a fan of <em>Warlock</em>, which surprised me somewhat in that it seems a very old-fashioned novel in relation to Pynchon's own body of work (caveat--I only know Pynchon by reputation). Hall's novel is very well-crafted, though, and a universe unto itself in some ways. Good stuff.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-77386070776536910792023-04-30T19:44:49.765-04:002023-04-30T19:44:49.765-04:00One of Pynchon's rare reviews. (He liked it.) ...One of Pynchon's rare reviews. (He liked it.) I've been meaning to read it since I came across his review, but haven't.reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-77534437080823346242023-04-11T12:19:47.392-04:002023-04-11T12:19:47.392-04:00Very good to know, thanks.Very good to know, thanks.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-88674129979951463642023-04-10T22:54:27.702-04:002023-04-10T22:54:27.702-04:00Hoffmann was an eye-opener. A whole line of liter...Hoffmann was an eye-opener. A whole line of literature suddenly had an origin.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-73242134529462629022023-04-10T17:44:40.996-04:002023-04-10T17:44:40.996-04:00Your Meyrink posts were a delight and influential ...Your Meyrink posts were a delight and influential even if took me 10 years to work Meyrink into my own queue. I'll have to pay more attention to the symbolism next time, but there was quite a lot to distract me even without that. Hopefully I'll get to an E.T.A. Hoffmann before long as well (I've only read one, and judging by your posts, I'd profit from reading more).Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-35544521151413824592023-04-10T16:06:19.114-04:002023-04-10T16:06:19.114-04:00Good, that's how I remember it, although I per...Good, that's how I remember it, although I perhaps remember little more than the mood of the book.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-34672229249717884812023-04-09T23:35:59.797-04:002023-04-09T23:35:59.797-04:00I agree with you and everybody else that this isn&...I agree with you and everybody else that this isn't a masterpiece, but I suspect that it'd hold up to multiple readings for me just based on the number of curiosities I left out of my review. A strange and action-packed book! I haven't read the Chabon novel, but I'm now curious what types of parallels you might be thinking about regarding that book and Meyrink's.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-44896123193897550302023-04-09T22:44:26.342-04:002023-04-09T22:44:26.342-04:00I remember liking this well enough when I read it ...I remember liking this well enough when I read it years ago--I forget whether I was brought to it by Borges or I. B. Singer--and it's not a masterpiece but an interesting enough take on the golem theme. I wonder now how it would pair with Kavalier and Clay, which I read years later.reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-31104600300683741462023-04-03T01:38:29.308-04:002023-04-03T01:38:29.308-04:00Thanks! I don't remember the Ferrante being a...Thanks! I don't remember the Ferrante being all that difficult, but I've now stalled on it twice due to laziness & impatience (i.e. too much vocab to look up to make headway) as much as my rudimentary Italian. I'll have to try again one of these days. No Calvino here because these are all TBR books only and I cut back on buying Italian authors for a while until I read what I already had (I have another shelf or so in translation and a Moravia in Italian that I just realized I've misplaced, ugh). Cheers.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-6451768422330381042023-04-02T20:52:39.010-04:002023-04-02T20:52:39.010-04:00Nice stack!
I've heard from friends who'...Nice stack! <br /><br />I've heard from friends who've read the Ferrante in Italian (two, both non-native speakers though their Italian is better than mine) that the Ferrante is actually pretty readable, and you don't have to be a wizard with Neapolitan dialect to read it. I've only read it in English, but one of these days. If you gave it a shot I'd be curious.<br /><br />I think that's the Penman translation of the The Betrothed. I much preferred the Colquhon, FWIW.<br /><br />And where's the Calvino?! ;-)reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-32535777267816796572023-03-15T01:37:59.785-04:002023-03-15T01:37:59.785-04:00I'd want to pay more attention to that the nex...I'd want to pay more attention to that the next time around if I ever give it another whirl. Like the one character who falls asleep while Melmoth is telling him a story, I'd sometimes lose track of who was narrating as the story within a story droned on and on. Still, a would be Weird France novel mostly set in Spain but written by an eccentric Anglican curate from Ireland? Priceless!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-19216189492358098782023-03-15T01:30:54.670-04:002023-03-15T01:30:54.670-04:00I'd wanted to read it for close to 30 years if...I'd wanted to read it for close to 30 years if I remember correctly (when I first started getting into Lautréamont and reading about the Surrealists, it was a work that was frequently mentioned as a big influence), but I have no idea why it took me so long to actually read the damn thing. In any event, a singular piece of writing and great fun at times but also stylistically maddening in places.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-48892926703003170902023-03-15T01:04:15.946-04:002023-03-15T01:04:15.946-04:00It's all in the nesting stories, the crazy nes...It's all in the nesting stories, the crazy nesting.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-55080713747039123102023-03-15T00:25:14.568-04:002023-03-15T00:25:14.568-04:00I bought a copy of this at one point in a fit of s...I bought a copy of this at one point in a fit of something, but I've never even tried to start it...hmmm...next-level weirdness does sound pretty promising...reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-64114008340088319062023-03-07T14:15:36.284-05:002023-03-07T14:15:36.284-05:00I buy most of my foreign language books from Amazo...I buy most of my foreign language books from Amazon or Amazon Marketplace vendors these days, which isn't ideal but the wonderful foreign language bookstore near where I work that I used to frequent went out of business several years ago. I do prefer to shop locally for books in English. Have heard good things about <em>Compass</em> and hope to read that someday.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-49173878108231498982023-03-06T23:44:03.727-05:002023-03-06T23:44:03.727-05:00I read Compass a couple of years ago & was pre...I read Compass a couple of years ago & was pretty impressed. I've been meaning to try another, and Zone is also on the list.<br /><br />Book buying was hard during the pandemic (I don't especially like to buy from Amazon) though in fact that was a good thing since there was less hoarding (oops, I mean collecting).reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-50453671899872033892023-03-05T21:55:38.432-05:002023-03-05T21:55:38.432-05:00Ha, glad to have your approval! I hardly bought a...Ha, glad to have your approval! I hardly bought any books the last few years so everything looks tempting now that I'm reading (and buying) again. I read Enard's <em>Zone</em> a while back and was blown away by it. I won't hold this book to the same standard, but I'm very much looking forward to it all the same.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-7458683709123024532023-03-05T21:50:28.097-05:002023-03-05T21:50:28.097-05:00Todavía no. Todos estos son recién llegados. Sal...Todavía no. Todos estos son recién llegados. Saludos.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-76594080609947045822023-03-05T21:39:12.413-05:002023-03-05T21:39:12.413-05:00I have enough Spanish for that. It's never hoa...I have enough Spanish for that. It's never hoarding. ;-)<br /><br />I'm curious about that Enard myself.reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818057262934008241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-22167699175610212102023-03-05T19:28:34.251-05:002023-03-05T19:28:34.251-05:00Me da curiosidad Los sorrentinos. Lo leíste?Me da curiosidad Los sorrentinos. Lo leíste?Sebastiánhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03243374669144555338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-24800983714880317562023-02-27T22:08:13.445-05:002023-02-27T22:08:13.445-05:00interesting. Whatever works for you sounds good t...interesting. Whatever works for you sounds good to me, though for my part, I'm much more interested in what Shakespeare has to say than how he says it (meter-wise at least) in his plays. To each hsi own, of course!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.com