Loved itif you like the dizzying lyrical pros of Osamu Desai or Sylvia plat the belgar mixed with the intensity of dov's white nights and Madonna and a ferco two books I love read this book
Cold Nights of Childhood (2023)
Others: Positive The narrator of Cold Nights of Childhood grows up in a rapidly changing Turkey, where the atmosphere is nationalist, patriarchal, technocratic. As a misfit in search of freedom, love and happiness, she escapes to Berlin, is overcome by depression on her return, and trapped in a psychiatry clinic for five years. After electroshock therapy and inhumane treatment, she is released into the care of friends and family, making tentative steps in a halting journey towards recovery. In her unique, unstructured style, Tezer Özlü explores the extremity of her inner life and the painful pleasures of memory. Translated into English for the first time by Maureen Freely, this novel is a classic akin to The Bell Jar and Good Morning, Midnight.
- ISBN:
- 9781945492693
- Length:
- 128 pages
Genres: literary fiction, classics
Lists: …
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Maureen Corrigan
2014 · 360 pages · 1 review
Others: Positive"The "Fresh Air" book critic investigates the enduring power of The Great Gatsby -- "The Great American Novel we all think we've read, but really haven't." Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power. Offering a fresh perspective on what makes Gatsby great-and utterly unusual-So We Read On takes us into archives, high school classrooms, and even out onto the Long Island Sound to explore the novel's hidden depths, a journey whose revelations include Gatsby's surprising debt to hard-boiled crime fiction, its rocky path to recognition as a "classic," and its profound commentaries on the national themes of race, class, and gender. With rigor, wit, and infectious enthusiasm, Corrigan inspires us to re-experience the greatness of Gatsby and cuts to the heart of why we are, as a culture, "borne back ceaselessly" into its thrall. Along the way, she spins a new and fascinating story of her own"-- Provided by publisher.
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Also classics and literary fiction81%Jack Edwards loved both13%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations6%The woman in the dunes
Ksobso Abe
1964 · 4 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveThe Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense and the existential novel. After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman, and together their fates become intertwined as they work side by side through this Sisyphean of tasks.
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Also classics and literary fiction84%Jack Edwards loved both14%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations2%Things
Georges Perec
1990 · 223 pages · 0 reviews
LF: "Things"? It is a title that intrigues that feeds misunderstanding. Rather than a book about things, basically do you not write a book on happiness? G. P: It is there, I think, between the things of the modern world and happiness, one of obligation. A certain richness of our civilization makes a kind of happiness possible: we can speak, in this sense, as a happiness, deep carpets, from a current figure of happiness which I believe that to be happy, he must be absolutely modern. Those who imagined that I condemned the consumer society really do not understand my book. But this happiness is still possible; because, our capitalist society is: things promised are not things due. --
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Also classics and literary fiction90%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations10%Thomas the Obscure
Maurice Blanchot
1950 · 124 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveBefore Sartre, before Beckett, before Robbe-Grillet, Maurice Blanchot created the new novel, the ultimate post-modern fiction. Written between 1932 and 1940, Blanchot's first novel, here brilliantly translated by Robert Lamberton, contains all the remarkable aspects of his famous and perplexing invention, the ontological narrative--a tale whose subject is the nature of being itself. This paradoxical work discovers being in the absence of being, mystery in the absence of mystery, both to be searched for limitlessly. As Blanchot launches this endless search in his own masterful way, he transforms the possibilities of the novel. First issued in English in 1973 in a limited edition, this re-issue includes an illuminating essay on translation by Lamberton.
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Also classics and literary fiction90%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations10%Hunger
Knut Hamsun
2008 · 155 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveHungerby Knut Hamsun is a psychological exploration of desperation, human will, and existential struggle. Through the eyes of the unnamed protagonist, Hamsun paints a stark picture of poverty and isolation in a modernizing city. The protagonist's hunger is both literal and symbolic, representing not only his physical deprivation but also his yearning for meaning and artistic recognition. The novel delves into the complexities of mental instability as the narrator fluctuates between states of delusion, pride, and anguish, revealing the depths of human suffering and resilience. Since its publication, Hunger has been hailed as a pioneering work in modernist literature. Its introspective narrative style and focus on the inner turmoil of the protagonist have influenced many later writers. The novel's existential themes resonate with readers, touching on the alienation and internal conflict faced by individuals in a rapidly changing society. Hamsun's depiction of the psychological effects of extreme hunger and poverty is both poignant and unsettling, offering a raw portrayal of human endurance in the face of societal neglect. The relevance of Hunger persists due to its timeless exploration of human nature. By examining the intersections of pride, despair, and the quest for survival, the novel provides a profound commentary on the fragility of the human condition. Hamsun's work continues to inspire reflection on issues of poverty, mental health, and the search for purpose, making it a powerful contribution to world literature
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Also classics and literary fiction92%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations8%Dubliners
James Joyce
1914 · 250 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveJames Joyce's disillusion with the publication of Dubliners in 1914 was the result of ten years battling with publishers, resisting their demands to remove swear words, real place names and much else, including two entire stories. Although only 24 when he signed his first publishing contract for the book, Joyce already knew its worth: to alter it in any way would 'retard the course of civilisation in Ireland'. Joyce's aim was to tell the truth -- to create a work of art that would reflect life in Ireland at the turn of the last century. By rejecting euphemism, he would reveal to the Irish the unromantic reality, the recognition of which would lead to the spiritual liberation of the country. Each of the fifteen stories offers a glimpse of the lives of ordinary Dubliners -- a death, an encounter, an opportunity not taken, a memory rekindled -- and collectively they paint a portrait of a nation. - Back cover. Dubliners is a collection of vignettes of Dublin life at the end of the 19th Century written, by Joyce’s own admission, in a manner that captures some of the unhappiest moments of life. Some of the dominant themes include lost innocence, missed opportunities and an inability to escape one’s circumstances. Joyce’s intention in writing Dubliners, in his own words, was to write a chapter of the moral history of his country, and he chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to him to be the centre of paralysis. He tried to present the stories under four different aspects: childhood, adolescence, maturity and public life.\ ‘The Sisters’, ‘An Encounter’ and ‘Araby’ are stories from childhood. ‘Eveline’, ‘After the Race’, ‘Two Gallants’ and ‘The Boarding House’ are stories from adolescence. ‘A Little Cloud’, ‘Counterparts’, ‘Clay’ and ‘A Painful Case’ are all stories concerned with mature life. Stories from public life are ‘Ivy Day in the Committee Room’ and ‘A Mother and Grace’. ‘The Dead’ is the last story in the collection and probably Joyce’s greatest. It stands alone and, as the title would indicate, is concerned with death. Contains Sisters\ Encounter\ Araby\ Eveline\ After the Race\ Two Gallants\ Boarding House\ Little Cloud\ Counterparts\ Clay\ A Painful Case\ Ivy Day In the Committee Room\ Mother\ Grace\ Dead
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