Summer reading: a book is a mirror …
“A modern master at the height of his powers”, “astonishing technical virtuosity”, “comes alive in his hands”, “a delight” … blah blah fucking blah.
Don’t bother with the drivel recommended in the Guardian’s Summer Reading collection. There are too few surprises (though Robert Crumb is an honourable exception!). And if I needed any prompting (which I didn’t really) I shall now consign anything written by Nadeem Aslam and James Wood to the slop bucket. Look at what they recommend!
Summer reading? I’ve just picked up, again, Gert Hofmann’s Lichtenberg and the Little Flower Girl. It really is the sweetest, lightest, funniest, most movingest book there is. I bought it in May 2004. It’s still not out in paperback. It’s still not out in paperback.
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- Life is elsewhere
- Moore, Godard, no connecting thread
- Closing Opening Lines
- Every terrible thing…
- Summer picks: don’t listen to them
Make A Comment: ( 6 so far )
6 Responses to “Summer reading: a book is a mirror …”
Sandra
June 19th, 2005
Yes, perhaps. But given Macfarlane’s other choices and his conservative opinions in the TLS and elsewhere, I reckon Borodale is probably a mate and this is a gesture of friendship and an exception. I’m suspicious.
BTW, Josipovici’s novel “Moo Pak” is also “written whilst walking through London”, but it’s only 150 pages, so probably doesn’t count.
steve
June 19th, 2005
Oh. I hadn’t even begun to suspect the usual back scratching.
Thanks for the hint on Moo Pak. Even bettter, Carcanet have money off online orders and no postage charges cf Amazon’s extra charge for this hard to find item.
Sandra
June 19th, 2005
Sandra, thanks for the reminder about Carcanet. “Moo Pak” is one of my favourite novels as you might know.
steve
June 23rd, 2005
Steve
I don’t think you are right about Wood. He gave Enduring Love the harshest possible review in the Guardian — compared it with Sid Field’s popular guides on how to write Hollywood thrillers. And his review of Saturday in the New Republic was pretty mixed, and very skeptical about the thriller elements.
Anonymous
June 24th, 2005
In what way am I wrong? Wood recommended the book in the Guardian’s pages. End. Of. Story.
steve
June 24th, 2005
I thought that Robert Macfarlane’s choices looked interesting too: the 370 page poem “written whilst walking through London”, in particular, was something I’d missed compeletely and will now seek out.