What Are You Reading Now.

Definitely not. It is set in the Louisiana swamps.

 

lmao, what are crawdads supposed to sound like?

 

Big wet crickets I would assume

 

I was talking books with a coworker, and she said that she can't get enough WWII era stuff, both historical fiction and actual history. That reminded me of a slim but intimidating book that I've been avoiding for a while—Elie Wiesel's Night. So, I finally took it off the shelf. Preparing for some heavy stuff.

 

Just finished Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith.


282k words and with time available it took me a month. She certainly is one of the best authors out there and over all I really enjoyed this book, but… “Dat giorle,” really tested my determination to keep reading at times. Anyway, as I have promised myself to keep reading no matter what I did so and overall she won me over. Many things learnt by reading this book both good and bad.

Next up is Legacy of War by Wilbur Smith, which I am staring right now.

 

I’ll let you know if the title makes more sense after finishing the story.

 

One of the best WWII books I’ve read recently is Narrow Road to Deep North. It’s about a company of Australian POWs building the railroad in Burma.

 

She? Odd name for a woman; Robert.

 

Apparently it's a pen name for J K Rowling

 

which is weird because I thought it was because she wanted to write anonymously and make a name for herself apart from Harry Potter, but she has another adult fiction book thats under "J K Rowling"

 

Re-reading The Night Circus. It's still good.

 

Oh, I loved that book so much. Now I want to reread it, too!

 

for some reason I thought it was Louisiana. It’s actually in North Carolina.

From the book:

Apparently the author’s mother used the phrase. There you have it.

 

Well that's not bad then. Sort of a bayou myth or legend, a Shambala of sorts. A magical fairy-tale land where honey and wine flow in the rivers. OK, I get it now. Unfortunately nobody knows that until they read the book...

 

I just finished reading Henry Roth's Call It Sleep today. It was an experience, really.

I guess the best way to put it is that Roth successfully attempted so many difficult things, some I didn't think could be done effectively, that I'm beyond impressed. The story itself is striking and refined, but not exactly Earth-shattering. However, how it's done is pretty extraordinary.

First, it's almost entirely told from the perspective of an elementary school aged Hungarian immigrant to New York City. Child perspectives are difficult at best, but he goes for an extremely uncomfortable storyline and makes the increasingly cringe inducing moments seem natural, as if they really happened. It's painful and riveting from the perspective, especially when his own thoughts and introspection become clouded with a desire to simply not be afraid anymore. His seeking and the situations pressed upon him are tough to read or listen to.

Second, all of the dialogue here is different dialectical writing. This is where Roth went completely off the rails in being awesome. He actually does dialectical writing that translates back and forth between languages as the characters change languages depending on the audience. Then, in the second to last chapter, he does this melting pot dialogue driven scene that combines all these different accents and voices from the lower East side of the city in the immigrant sector and its incredible. He paces and isolates the voices by both writing their dialogue in dialects, but also moving their speech blocks across the page to signify the chaos of the scene as well as differentiate simultaneous speakers without stating it in authorial dictation. Mind you, in this scene the boy is locked in a chaotic introspection state as well, leaving little room for description, instead letting the boy's interpretation and the myriad of different voices create the scene and devlve the situation. Literally the most well-designed chapter I've ever read. Incredible.

But it is wildly difficult. I would highly suggest reading this book with the assitance of an audiobook, fllowing along. It's hard to do either by itself in the most critical scenes. I will likely never revisit this, as it is hard to read because of the subject matter at many points, but I'll remember it for sure.

 

New Book Day! Thanks for all the recommendations last time. I have made a note of them all, though I went in a completely different direction. I remembered I borrowed a number of books from a friend who is returning to China next month, so I need to prioritize those first.

I ended up reading A Summons to Memphis. Basically, it’s about a well-to-do family from Nashville who relocate to Memphis in the early 1900s and the effects it has on everyone.

On a deeper level, it’s about a man trying to understand his relationship with his father and his two sisters. It wasn’t the most engrossing, but it was short enough to be pleasant. It apparently also won a Pulitzer.

Up next: Shoe Dog

 

Finished Wilbur Smith - Legacy of War - written with David Churchill.

I have to say I had forgotten how good Smith is. This is an excellent short read and I will be looking for more of his. Any suggestions?

Having already read the Thursday Murder club last month, I am waiting for the follow up to come out in paperback (don’t do downloads as I am loving the feel of paper books). So I have found a similar book called The Marlow Murder Club - by Robert Thorogood. That is my latest read but at 338 pages looks like I’ll need another by midweek…

 

Very interesting…

Dialogue dialect. I presumed (incorrectly?) that dialect expressed in dialogue was a no no. Of course I am not that well read hence I have no hard and fast opinion and I take stories as I find them.

Having read a Robert Galbraith story (Troubled Blood) recently when the author tried and unfortunately failed to effect a Dublin accent (it lacked consistency and ended up reverting back to traditional English!) and then went on to visit Welsh, Scottish (Glaswegian) and various English (including Cockney). It soon become cringeworthy and then just annoying. Wilbur Smith on the other hand (Legacy of War) had many European and African characters and was able to quickly build characters without the need for accents.

I am interested to know what your thoughts were on Roth’s efforts. Did it stand out or interrupt the read?

 

Just finished The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood. This is outstanding. Very well done.

Just starting Turn A Blind Eye by Jeffrey Archer.

Just ordered When The Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith

 

Dracula, which I first tried to read... Last year, I think it was? It didn't take back then and I didn't get very far. I'm deeper into it this time, and feeling it more. Still one of those novels I need to be in a certain mindset for, and it's somewhat rare that I'm relaxed enough to sit down with it.

 

It’s easier to read once you realize it’s all about sex.

 

And why in blazes would I want to read about sex, of all things? No, son, I'm all about that Transylvanian folklore and forlorn castles, thank you very much.