I read Young Mungo in April, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but I’m still thinking about it all this time later. I know what you’re referring to and I agree it was… a lot.
I found your channel today and I'm loving your content. You got me at "barely went to Sunday school" and "I've never read the bible" . I need you as a friend. 🤗 Hugs from TX!
It's one of my favorite shirts! I've actually never been to Portland but a friend got the shirt for me when he went there to visit his sister a few year's back. Someday, I'll get over to see Powell's myself.
I would say with BoJ, you won’t deal with a lot of biblical references. The Frankists continually shift faith as they walk through the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. The history is quite daunting, but slowly slowly, it all starts to make sense 😊
Olga Dies Dreaming is on my list! Fiona qnd Jane really intrigues me. I really like books about writing and process and Constructing a New Systems is a banger of a title.
The description of The Naked Don’t Fear the Water grabbed me right away. I paused the video and checked out the audiobook from my library. (It’s also available on Scribd.) I had been interested in The School for Good Mothers until I saw Simon’s review of it. He wasn’t a fan and his description made me think it would annoy me for the same reasons. But the premise does sound interesting. It’s a curious list. I hadn’t heard of most of these. Some of the ones I had heard of seemed to be lightweights, like Vladimir and the book by Xochitl (pronounced So-chee, I believe) Gonzalez. It doesn’t feel like a great year for new fiction releases so far this year. I definitely agree with Don’t Cry For Me. Most of my favorite fiction books so far in 2022 come from previous years or haven’t been released over here yet.
Admittedly, I haven't read a whole lot of new fiction for 2022, but it probably isn't a good sign that I could only think of one book that I would absolutely put on the list (plus another maybe).
I’ve heard an Egan interview where she says she wishes she could have read The Candy House before Goon Squad, but obviously for most of us that isn’t possible. Both books are so much better than they are made to sound, and the execution is perfect. Good Squad intrigued me intellectually. But Candy House hit my emotions too and it’s my favorite Egan work. She’s brilliant.
I read The Books of Jacob earlier this year and don't think that you need to have read the Bible to understand what the author is getting at. (Although this is from somebody who also hasn't read the Bible.) I didn't mind the density, and it is definitely a feat on the author's part that I found worth taking time over. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is also the book of Tokarczuk's that I read first, and I think would be a great place to start. I'm quite surprised that this list actually included some books that I've read. It feels like something of the accomplishment. Granted, I've only read two of them, but still, I will now endeavour to think about what 2022 books I'd have expected to make it to this list.
Two is pretty good for a list like this! Especially this early in the year. I usually feel like I'm playing catch-up to new releases by the time November and December roll around.
I really enjoyed Candy House. Egan is a master in changing style and touching on so many characters lives. For me it worked even better than Goon Squad, though that is probably because I'm not the biggest fan of music in literature
For a historical fiction readathon challenge, I started "The Books of Jacob", and, to be honest, I thought it was it brilliant... the problem was that it is a book that needs time to be really be studied and not just read (looking up certain words and cultural and historical bits). I set it aside so that I could focus on other aspects of the challenge. I do really want to get back to it though at some point, when I can really set aside the time I think it will require. The writing is brilliant. I was about 100 pages in (the pages go backward, "a nod to books written in Hebrew," Tokarczuk says).
You know, The Books of Jacob is the kind of book that every Polish household has, but literally nobody reads (with the exception of my dad, whose only comment after months of reading was that it was "quite long" lol). I plan on reading it eventually though, because I have high hopes for it after I read Drive Your Plough... and was left disappointed tbh - it was a good book and enjoyable, it had an amazing and original main character, but overall was just a fun crime story, not a Nobel prize winner level of good. I'd still recommend it, as I truly enjoyed reading it, but it just lacked depth. I'm curious about your thoughts on the similarities/differences between Young Mungo and A Little Life. I know you hated the latter (and I did too), and what you said about Young Mungo reminds me of my feelings while reading A Little Life - that it would have benefitted from not being so brutal. I remember it felt like Yanigahara did a good job of hinting at abuse, but when it was on page and soooo repetitively morose, it stopped being impactful and became tedious. (This book is also proof that I am completely heartless, actually, because I did not cry for the entire duration of the novel and when Yanigahara was melodramatically trying to convey to me how SAD it was that one of the characters died I found it so annoying it became funny to me) (although the monastery part was horrifying and it did leave an impression so maybe my heart disappears when it senses bad writing) I also thought about A Little Life while reading Shuggie Bain a few months ago. I really struggled with it (I even asked you what to look for to like in it) and I thought that it was toying with the line of being too much, but by leaving a lot unsaid or hinted at, it ultimately didn't cross it the way A Little Life did. sorry if my message is chaotic, I'm trying to convey my unstructured thoughts as concisely as I can as always love your videos
That's a very interesting question. I think a big part of my problem with A Little Life is that the brutality of that book feels lurid and exploitative. Reading the book makes you feel complicit in everything that happens/happened. And I don't think there's any greater point to any of the misery except to feel bad and enjoy feeling bad. I definitely fall into the camp of people who think A Little Life is nothing but torture fetish. In contrast, I think Stuart is deliberately using Young Mungo's brutality to shock his reader. He's been pretty open that to him, it's a book about the violence young gay men have endured throughout history, and how vulnerable they can be. You're meant to be shocked because this experience (or ones like it) are unfortunately real for many LGBTQ people. And I think that's why I can kinda almost get behind the book, even if I didn't enjoy it. The problem is that I think Stuart overdoes it by a wide margin. As I said in my review of Mungo, I think you would get the same point without the more violent storyline. Shuggie Bain was much more effective than both books to me because it had moments of shocking violence that were tempered with surprising moments of tenderness and love. And as you said, the violent bits were mostly just hinted at--but they were still real enough to break your heart. To me, it's a very deft balancing act. I could quibble a bit with the end of Shuggie Bain and how Shuggie's mother left his life, but I see what Stuart was doing and appreciate it. It's much easier to forgive a feeling like that when the rest of the book has been so strong.
OMG The School for Good Mothers sounds really good. It reminds me of Amazon's Out of Line short story series: "What happens when women step out of line and take control of their own stories?" Each story is written by a different author and there were some really good ones in there. I'm surprised how few of these I've heard of. The Books of Jacob sounds awesome, I really want to read that one.
From this list I am most interested in The School for Good Mothers and The Candy House. I've enjoyed Egan's previous books so I'm hoping to find that at the library. Maybe Fiona and Jane...it keeps popping up on lists.
I've only read Visit From the Goon Squad but have two of Egan's other books (in addition to the audio of Candy House). I also saw her speak at the 92nd St. Y in New York about a decade ago and she was fascinating. School for Good Mothers does sound interesting.
The only books I've read on this list were Olga Dies Dreaming and Vladmir and I loved both! Olga Dies Dreaming does have an LGBT plotline so you could technically read it this month :) A book I really enjoyed that I would have liked to see on this list was Groundskeeping.
I listed to the audio of School for Good Mothers a few months back and it was so frustrating in a good way. (I gave it 5 stars) I was both angry for the main character, but also disliked everyone in this story. I'd say give it a go to see how you feel. It really hits on the impossible expectations mothers face.
I think I’ll read Olga Dies Dreaming this month for pride month. I felt like Vladimir was beautifully written but it then went a bit too far plot-wise. I didn’t think the dramatics were quite so necessary. I would definitely pick up another book by this writer, though. Very talented and engrossing. I’m also a sucker for academic settings. Fiona and Jane was okay. You have to go into it knowing that each chapter is a short story so it’s a bit more disjointed than you might imagine from the blurb. I would read another book by this writer, though. I never actually got bored with it but I feel like the friendship connection could have been built on more. I’m determined to read Books of Jacob. I’m kind of excited about the hype. I did read Drive your Plough and I forgot most of it, unfortunately. She’s such a celebrated writer, though, so I’m still holding out for “the one” from her.
Olga Dies Dreaming was amazing and it actually is partially an LGBT story. I am Puertorican and I thought the representation of this generation of immigrants who live in a kind of limbo was really interesting! It deals with the politics of the Puertorican diaspora but only through a very personal and intricate story of siblings finding themselves in the world that keeps pushing back! (the author's name is roughly pronounced soh- chill)
I have read the Books Of Jacob. Found it very thought provoking. Don’t really need to know the Bible that’s really not what’s it about. To me it’s more a story how a person can be caught up in power brought on because of religion to create a new messiah. Drive Your Plow is. Excellent, excellent book but totally different style. I didn’t care for Flights as much as others have
I read and enjoyed (didn't love) Fiona and Jane. The blurb is a bit misleading. The two friends are apart for much of the book. One's stories are written in 1st person, the other's, third, making their separation feel (read) even more like very different stories. In some of the stories the other friend is barely even mentioned. The ending is tied up in a bit of a neat bow that wasn't really earned. Now I'm thinking of it, the stories read a bit like a television series' episodes, and the ending the season finale. The writing was good, and it was a page-turner, but I don't think it delivered what was promised on the cover. Which is not necessarily the author's fault. I just think I would have enjoyed it more if I went in expecting something different. Or even without any particular expectations. I really should stop reading blurbs! Would definitely read more by this author, but wouldn't be in a great hurry to do so.
That's very disappointing, because the blurb on the book is the thing that keeps getting me interested, and if that's not what it is, then that stinks. Thanks for the feedback.
Olga dies dreaming is one of my favorite book of the read and it also has an LGBT touch/storyline (so you could read it for Pride month!). I hated and I mean HATED The candy house.
I love these lists for introducing me to books I never heard of or have forgotten, but their descriptions hardly ever make me want to read them.
😂 It's funny how that happens.
Thanks for the line-up and for your feedback! Very helpful 👍🏽
I read Young Mungo in April, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but I’m still thinking about it all this time later. I know what you’re referring to and I agree it was… a lot.
I wish I had liked it more. Oh well! There's always Stuart's next book.
I found your channel today and I'm loving your content. You got me at "barely went to Sunday school" and "I've never read the bible" . I need you as a friend. 🤗 Hugs from TX!
Thanks so much! Hugs back to you from Montana!
I enjoyed Negroland by Margo Jefferson . actually did listen to it on audio... found it in my library app.. never heard anyone else mention it
🙋♀️I enjoyed Negroland too
I think that one is definitely going on my list. Thank you both for the feedback!
The execution of Candy House is largely why I enjoyed it: interconnected short stories, each one written in a different, exciting, experimental style.
It will be interesting to see how she revisits the form a decade after Goon Squad.
I read and loved The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson so definitely interested in this one.
I’ll have to look that one up!
Read White Houses by Amy Bloom a couple of years back. Enjoyed that one. In Love sounds devastating!
It does! I had completely forgotten about White Houses. I did read that one! I admit I was a bit disappointed.
I’m from Portland- seeing a Powell’s shirt makes me smile! 🥰📚
It's one of my favorite shirts! I've actually never been to Portland but a friend got the shirt for me when he went there to visit his sister a few year's back. Someday, I'll get over to see Powell's myself.
I would say with BoJ, you won’t deal with a lot of biblical references. The Frankists continually shift faith as they walk through the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. The history is quite daunting, but slowly slowly, it all starts to make sense 😊
I agree: no need to be familiar with the bible to enjoy BoJ
Thank you both for the feedback on it!
Olga Dies Dreaming is on my list! Fiona qnd Jane really intrigues me.
I really like books about writing and process and Constructing a New Systems is a banger of a title.
There's been a good amount of positive feedback on Olga in the comments.
The description of The Naked Don’t Fear the Water grabbed me right away. I paused the video and checked out the audiobook from my library. (It’s also available on Scribd.) I had been interested in The School for Good Mothers until I saw Simon’s review of it. He wasn’t a fan and his description made me think it would annoy me for the same reasons. But the premise does sound interesting.
It’s a curious list. I hadn’t heard of most of these. Some of the ones I had heard of seemed to be lightweights, like Vladimir and the book by Xochitl (pronounced So-chee, I believe) Gonzalez. It doesn’t feel like a great year for new fiction releases so far this year. I definitely agree with Don’t Cry For Me. Most of my favorite fiction books so far in 2022 come from previous years or haven’t been released over here yet.
Admittedly, I haven't read a whole lot of new fiction for 2022, but it probably isn't a good sign that I could only think of one book that I would absolutely put on the list (plus another maybe).
I’ve heard an Egan interview where she says she wishes she could have read The Candy House before Goon Squad, but obviously for most of us that isn’t possible. Both books are so much better than they are made to sound, and the execution is perfect. Good Squad intrigued me intellectually. But Candy House hit my emotions too and it’s my favorite Egan work. She’s brilliant.
I saw her speak at the 92nd St. Y in NYC a few years ago and she was fascinating.
I read The Books of Jacob earlier this year and don't think that you need to have read the Bible to understand what the author is getting at. (Although this is from somebody who also hasn't read the Bible.) I didn't mind the density, and it is definitely a feat on the author's part that I found worth taking time over. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is also the book of Tokarczuk's that I read first, and I think would be a great place to start.
I'm quite surprised that this list actually included some books that I've read. It feels like something of the accomplishment. Granted, I've only read two of them, but still, I will now endeavour to think about what 2022 books I'd have expected to make it to this list.
Two is pretty good for a list like this! Especially this early in the year. I usually feel like I'm playing catch-up to new releases by the time November and December roll around.
I really enjoyed Candy House. Egan is a master in changing style and touching on so many characters lives. For me it worked even better than Goon Squad, though that is probably because I'm not the biggest fan of music in literature
Good to know--thanks!
For a historical fiction readathon challenge, I started "The Books of Jacob", and, to be honest, I thought it was it brilliant... the problem was that it is a book that needs time to be really be studied and not just read (looking up certain words and cultural and historical bits). I set it aside so that I could focus on other aspects of the challenge. I do really want to get back to it though at some point, when I can really set aside the time I think it will require. The writing is brilliant. I was about 100 pages in (the pages go backward, "a nod to books written in Hebrew," Tokarczuk says).
That makes sense. I am definitely not up for a book like that right now but will think on it for the future. Thanks!
You know, The Books of Jacob is the kind of book that every Polish household has, but literally nobody reads (with the exception of my dad, whose only comment after months of reading was that it was "quite long" lol). I plan on reading it eventually though, because I have high hopes for it after I read Drive Your Plough... and was left disappointed tbh - it was a good book and enjoyable, it had an amazing and original main character, but overall was just a fun crime story, not a Nobel prize winner level of good. I'd still recommend it, as I truly enjoyed reading it, but it just lacked depth.
I'm curious about your thoughts on the similarities/differences between Young Mungo and A Little Life. I know you hated the latter (and I did too), and what you said about Young Mungo reminds me of my feelings while reading A Little Life - that it would have benefitted from not being so brutal. I remember it felt like Yanigahara did a good job of hinting at abuse, but when it was on page and soooo repetitively morose, it stopped being impactful and became tedious. (This book is also proof that I am completely heartless, actually, because I did not cry for the entire duration of the novel and when Yanigahara was melodramatically trying to convey to me how SAD it was that one of the characters died I found it so annoying it became funny to me)
(although the monastery part was horrifying and it did leave an impression so maybe my heart disappears when it senses bad writing)
I also thought about A Little Life while reading Shuggie Bain a few months ago. I really struggled with it (I even asked you what to look for to like in it) and I thought that it was toying with the line of being too much, but by leaving a lot unsaid or hinted at, it ultimately didn't cross it the way A Little Life did.
sorry if my message is chaotic, I'm trying to convey my unstructured thoughts as concisely as I can
as always love your videos
That's a very interesting question. I think a big part of my problem with A Little Life is that the brutality of that book feels lurid and exploitative. Reading the book makes you feel complicit in everything that happens/happened. And I don't think there's any greater point to any of the misery except to feel bad and enjoy feeling bad. I definitely fall into the camp of people who think A Little Life is nothing but torture fetish.
In contrast, I think Stuart is deliberately using Young Mungo's brutality to shock his reader. He's been pretty open that to him, it's a book about the violence young gay men have endured throughout history, and how vulnerable they can be. You're meant to be shocked because this experience (or ones like it) are unfortunately real for many LGBTQ people. And I think that's why I can kinda almost get behind the book, even if I didn't enjoy it. The problem is that I think Stuart overdoes it by a wide margin. As I said in my review of Mungo, I think you would get the same point without the more violent storyline.
Shuggie Bain was much more effective than both books to me because it had moments of shocking violence that were tempered with surprising moments of tenderness and love. And as you said, the violent bits were mostly just hinted at--but they were still real enough to break your heart. To me, it's a very deft balancing act. I could quibble a bit with the end of Shuggie Bain and how Shuggie's mother left his life, but I see what Stuart was doing and appreciate it. It's much easier to forgive a feeling like that when the rest of the book has been so strong.
OMG The School for Good Mothers sounds really good. It reminds me of Amazon's Out of Line short story series: "What happens when women step out of line and take control of their own stories?" Each story is written by a different author and there were some really good ones in there. I'm surprised how few of these I've heard of. The Books of Jacob sounds awesome, I really want to read that one.
I do think it would be interesting to get to School for Good Mothers at some point. Those stories sound interesting.
From this list I am most interested in The School for Good Mothers and The Candy House. I've enjoyed Egan's previous books so I'm hoping to find that at the library. Maybe Fiona and Jane...it keeps popping up on lists.
I've only read Visit From the Goon Squad but have two of Egan's other books (in addition to the audio of Candy House). I also saw her speak at the 92nd St. Y in New York about a decade ago and she was fascinating. School for Good Mothers does sound interesting.
I also really liked Don't Cry For Me
SUCH a good book.
The only books I've read on this list were Olga Dies Dreaming and Vladmir and I loved both! Olga Dies Dreaming does have an LGBT plotline so you could technically read it this month :)
A book I really enjoyed that I would have liked to see on this list was Groundskeeping.
I have Groundskeeping on my list to get to. Thanks for the feedback on Olga and Vladimir.
I listed to the audio of School for Good Mothers a few months back and it was so frustrating in a good way. (I gave it 5 stars) I was both angry for the main character, but also disliked everyone in this story. I'd say give it a go to see how you feel. It really hits on the impossible expectations mothers face.
I think I'm going to need to wait to read it until I'm in a mood to be angry at the world.
I think I’ll read Olga Dies Dreaming this month for pride month. I felt like Vladimir was beautifully written but it then went a bit too far plot-wise. I didn’t think the dramatics were quite so necessary. I would definitely pick up another book by this writer, though. Very talented and engrossing. I’m also a sucker for academic settings.
Fiona and Jane was okay. You have to go into it knowing that each chapter is a short story so it’s a bit more disjointed than you might imagine from the blurb. I would read another book by this writer, though. I never actually got bored with it but I feel like the friendship connection could have been built on more.
I’m determined to read Books of Jacob. I’m kind of excited about the hype. I did read Drive your Plough and I forgot most of it, unfortunately. She’s such a celebrated writer, though, so I’m still holding out for “the one” from her.
The more people tell me about Fiona and Jane, the more I think I should just let it go.
Thanks for all the feedback!
Olga Dies Dreaming was amazing and it actually is partially an LGBT story. I am Puertorican and I thought the representation of this generation of immigrants who live in a kind of limbo was really interesting! It deals with the politics of the Puertorican diaspora but only through a very personal and intricate story of siblings finding themselves in the world that keeps pushing back! (the author's name is roughly pronounced soh- chill)
That's really good to know--thank you for the feedback on Olga Dies Dreaming! And thanks for the help in pronouncing the author's name. 👍
I have read the Books Of Jacob. Found it very thought provoking. Don’t really need to know the Bible that’s really not what’s it about. To me it’s more a story how a person can be caught up in power brought on because of religion to create a new messiah. Drive Your Plow is. Excellent, excellent book but totally different style. I didn’t care for Flights as much as others have
Good to know--thanks for all the feedback!
I am not at all religious, but read the bible in order to get the many references in literature. Honestly, not sure if it helped that much!
I feel like the same would be true for me.
I read and enjoyed (didn't love) Fiona and Jane. The blurb is a bit misleading. The two friends are apart for much of the book. One's stories are written in 1st person, the other's, third, making their separation feel (read) even more like very different stories. In some of the stories the other friend is barely even mentioned. The ending is tied up in a bit of a neat bow that wasn't really earned. Now I'm thinking of it, the stories read a bit like a television series' episodes, and the ending the season finale. The writing was good, and it was a page-turner, but I don't think it delivered what was promised on the cover. Which is not necessarily the author's fault. I just think I would have enjoyed it more if I went in expecting something different. Or even without any particular expectations. I really should stop reading blurbs! Would definitely read more by this author, but wouldn't be in a great hurry to do so.
That's very disappointing, because the blurb on the book is the thing that keeps getting me interested, and if that's not what it is, then that stinks. Thanks for the feedback.
Life Between the Tides looks like a Doris and Heidi book.
It really does! 🦀 🐠
I’m currently listening to Young Mungo as part of my June #lgbtqia
I look forward to your thoughts on it!
In Love is amazingly good and even funny at times. Bloom walks the thin line between devastation and normality beautifully. Don't write this one off.
Thanks for the feedback on it.
Olga dies dreaming is one of my favorite book of the read and it also has an LGBT touch/storyline (so you could read it for Pride month!). I hated and I mean HATED The candy house.
Lots of love for Olga Dies Dreaming in the comments. I didn't know it was Pride appropriate!