Summer in Stockholm, What I'm Reading, the Brilliance of George Saunders
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- 0:00 Intro
1:22 The Happy Couple
2:58 Knife
4:38 Time Shelter
7:49 Novels in Translation
10:00 Chronicle of a Death Foretold
10:45 Claire Keegan
11:40 Short Stories
14:18: TBR (Murakami, Rooney)
16:15 Stockholm
17:15 The Falls/Thursday
20:15 Thank You
You can judge the humanities and those that pursue it, it's a diluted commercial market, but it has always been artists that push the boundaries of human thought. Art in all forms is a unique expression of our tortured, intelligent mind. A collection of our shared experience.
thank you love that
Beautiful, I'm subscribed
Thank you for your overview of so many books. Lately I've been into audiobooks and was pleased that some of your suggestions are available in that format. I look forward to your next video!
what a soothing aura! I have ADHD and it's really hard for me to stay on one video so i keep switching in between tabs and there's rarely something that keeps me hooked and I stayed for your video.♥
I get that for sure, it's part of the reason I was worried about making the video so long. But I'm really glad you liked it!
hi from nz, what a great channel! am a law student struggling with reading for myself because of my degree, so def needed some inspiration to get back into reading! :) love the pace of your video, george saunders is now on my list
Looking forward to more of this type of vids!!
you've given me lots of great recommendations, i am excited to read them!!
I’m glad you mentioned Grabriel Garcia Marquez, he is an amazing writer. I tried to read One Hundred Years of Solitude in Spanish because I thought I was gonna understand the book more, since it’s my first language, but I couldn’t so I finished it in English. Also because I wanted to see things that have been lost in translation, it is interesting how many ideas that the authors implement into their works get lost in translation, sadly from those who can’t read them in the original langauge. But I really look forward to reading more from Marquez for sure. The one book i would recommend is Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo, is really good. :) I am really into Latin American Literature, and i got exited when you mentioned Marquez. Nice video, enjoyed watching it :)
It's cool that you're able to see those differences, obviously his writing is still incredible in English but I'm sure it's not the same. Just finished Chronicle, which I loved, and One Hundred Years of Solitude is probably next. Pedro Páramo sounds really interesting, I'll try to find that one too.
As a cw concentration, this makes me so happy. I'm reading a lot this summer for inspiration for my thesis, so I'm taking down allllllll these recs.
Name is Salustiano Berrios. I wrote a novel called Growing Children. It's a sci-fi thriller about a father struggling to accept his autistic son, and the lengths he goes to "rectify" that situation. It's a weekend read that will leave your jaw on the floor. But it was cathartic for me to write, because my own son is on the spectrum--which gives the book a memoir-esque flavor.
In Barnes and on Amazon, alongside all of my other novels.
I’ve never heard of The Happy Couple. It sounds interesting, so I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation! Have a great whatever day it is!😋
Loved Sweden - enjoy(sounds like you are)☺️ Enjoyed your perception on some of the books, - I think different age groups - add so much interest to how they see a book - Thanks for the tips, - havent done Knife yet, - intend to but also in the middle of a pile of TBR -
Great Video Alex!
Greetings from Stockholm ❤
Omg you’re so not alone with thinking that time shelter sort of fell off at the end. I really like the middle too where it dove into certain patients but it completely lost me as it got closer to the end. I still haven’t been able to completely finish it 2 months later.
The ending was so tough, I didn't get anything from it at all and eventually I was sort of tuned out. No shame in not finishing it if you're thinking of tossing it aside for good.
I had no idea George Saunders was on substack, going to subscribe rn
Great content!
I have read chronicles of a death foretold. Very slim but quite affecting. The ending was nothing short of a gut punch.
i was just thinking about asking book recs to my friends but hey youtube algorithm knows me really well and it suggested this video!
Hi Alex. I'm Jon from Nigeria and im like you just getting used to the RUclips thing. But I just finished college here, studying accounting and it was kind of a tumultuous four years since I did not love it. My primary passion is everything literature and writing on what I read and just writing as well. So I'm hoping that by some chance in the future I'm able to do like an English major abroad or something as that would be the coolest thing for me. So I'd actually be interested in what like being a creative major is like, if you could do a followup video about the courses and books read in the future maybe I can hope more through you😊I've enjoyed your vibe and energy so far so looking forward to more videos.
Hi Jon! Awesome to hear from you. I'll for sure make some more videos about my major once the school year starts up again and try to go more in depth. I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos so far!
This was so fun to watch! I'm taking time off from uni currently so I've missed being in class discussions and hearing people's thoughts on books but this felt like being back! (Also been meaning to get into Murakami and now i want to check out barn burning:)
Would highly recommend. And if you like that one, Birthday Girl is another great short story of his. Both endings left my jaw on the floor.
Also if you like novels about translation I would recommend Babel by RF Kuang if you haven’t read it already!! I love the way she explores how languages change over time. It’s so much more than that too and I could never do it justice but it’s my fave book ever
Sounds like you're gonna have a super memorable summer! If you're into Irish authors and dystopian novels, my first recommendation is The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín. Also, if I could erase my memory and read a book for the first time again, it would be Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Hoping to get stuck into Normal People myself this summer :)
I'll have to check those out. The Picture of Dorian Gray might be my most anticipated future read. Really hoping it's as good as everyone says haha. I've got the book back home so I'll read it in August, probably.
@@agwriting it totally is! I don't mind book and movie spoilers all that much but I'm so happy with myself that I didn't spoil Dorian Gray
i loveddd chronicle of a death foretold! genuinely one of the best books i've read
Great reading list! Really interesting choices, many of which I’m unfamiliar with but also a lot I recognize (Marquez and Saunders). I appreciate how authentic you are in these vids and I hope you continue making them.
Also, is any of your work published/accessible? You’ve got great taste in fiction and I’m confident that I’d find your stories highly engaging.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! I don't have anything published yet, but I hope to have a few stories submitted to some different places by the end of this year. I'll definitely share any updates on this channel.
agree on time shelter totally.
happy to have stumbled upon your channel! i graduated as a creative writing major myself so i'm glad to see you in the field :)
you're reading a bunch of different and engaging material! old and new, surreal and real, short stories and novels. i can't stress enough how important it is to read read read and just absorb all different forms of writing to hone in on your craft! Saunders is a wonderful inspiration!
can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Murakami! he's a favorite of mine. if you ever get the chance, Sputnik Sweetheart is a wonderful one, short and sweet with all his usual wonder.
also, did you ever watch the film adaptation of Barn Burning?
I'll check that out! And I haven't watched that, but I've heard that it incorporated Faulkner's Barn Burning too, which sounds really cool. What did you think of it?
FINALLY a second video,
I was waiting for it. lol
also Sally Rooney mentioned? she's one of my favorite writers.
What are your thoughts on Beautiful world, where are you?
I liked it! I know a lot of people find her novels pretentious but I think that's kind of the point. She contrasts the important realities of the world with how relationships make us feel and act. And the more I hear her talk about how she views writing, the more I enjoy her work. Anyways, I'm really excited for Normal People as well as her new novel later this year.
hii im a swedish student studying in stockholm, this was a very intersting video and i got it on my recommended randomly so the yt algorithm is lucky today woo🤗 pls give book recommendations for someone that havent read anything but harry potter 🙏
I just read The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders and I thought of it as Animal Farm meets a Nickelodeon show. It was bonkers. Have you read that one? I definitely want to read A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, and I just subscribed to his Substack - thanks for mentioning that! Also I am such a huge fan of Jason Isbell too! You got a new subscriber in me :)
I can't believe I hadn't heard of that, I'll have to read it for sure. Sounds really cool. And Isbell is the man, his songs almost feel like entire novels to me.
Hey. Pelevin is great. T - is the best novel of his. And also - IPHUCK
Have you read conversations with friends by Sally Rooney? I liked it more than I did normal people. It’s a very unconventional love story but it was written really well
I haven't, but maybe I will after Normal People. It would be cool to read all of her novels before the new one comes out in September. I haven't heard as much about it, so thanks for the rec!
💙💙💙💙💙
Read the posthumous memoirs of brás cubas
I bought time shelter in Sofia. The idea is interesting. But the story is week.
Have u read some of the short stories by Stefan Zweig? Thx for the recommendations
I haven't. I've heard good things about that big collection though, I'll have to check his work out soon.
mmm im also trying to get back on reading more again, so i will def. read some of this books this next weeks, have you read anything by Bolaño?
I haven't. Any recommendations?
I hope you'll enjoy Normal People by Sally Rooney, it's one of my favourite books.
I can recommend 'White Nights' by Fyodor Dostoevsky and 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka, which are both pretty short, around 100 pages, I think. They are also both translated, from Russian and German.
Also, personally I don't mind if your videos are over 20 minutes, they are really interesting and I enjoy hearing peoples opinions on books. :))
Sounds like we have very similar tastes haha. I was reading a Kafka collection back home but hadn't gotten to The Metamorphosis so maybe I'll read that online. Definitely gonna get around to White Nights as well, I love Dostoevsky. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Both Norwegian Wood and Normal People are solid reads. I think Norwegian Wood overtime has lost a bit of it's magic for me but it's still a great coming of age (college student) read and my main beef with Normal People is that it abruptly finished (in my opinion) but otherwise I enjoyed the conversational tone of Rooney's writer. I'll definitely read more by both authors. I love Zadie Smith, I have yet to read Feel Free but I honestly plan on reading all her works.
That's really interesting. Well, hopefully Norwegian Wood is finding me at exactly the right time. And I'll let you know what I think about the ending to Normal People for sure, I love her style as well. Feel Free is all essays, which I'm actually really enjoying (I've read about five so far) but I definitely need to read her novels. Any favorites? I know On Beauty and White Teeth were pretty big.
@@agwriting On Beauty!!!
DO IT 16:29
Just found your channel Alex, these two first videos of yours are great. Just out of curiosity, do you hope to be a writer? Also, I'd love to know what is a book you've read that really got you thinking, I'm looking for the next book to read and always love books, movies, music, that gets you thinking about deeper things, or just things often untouched by our daily thoughts.
I definitely do hope to be a writer! Something that's kept me thinking lately, since you mentioned music too, is actually an album called 'Visitor' by John Moreland. It's a new record, but the songwriting is just incredible. For a book I read recently though, I might suggest Paradise by Toni Morrison. It's a quite confusing novel, but I think because of how much is going on and the incredibly difficult (and almost impossible) point she is trying to make, it definitely fits your description. Notes From Underground also has that effect on me, I've read it a few times and still always find something new.
@@agwriting Ah I have read Notes and yeah totally agree that it fits that description. I haven't read Paradise yet so I might check it out. Thanks!
Do you have any favourite short stories? I recently read Sour Milk Girls by Erin Roberts the concept was quite interesting.
@@sshheell I have so many favorite short stories haha, I'll have to make a video about all of them. I like the title 'Sour Milk Girls' though, I'll have to check it out. Made me think of 'Pet Milk' by Stuart Dybek.
One of my absolute favorites is 'Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice' by Nam Le (long title, I know). Most recently I read 'Genesis' by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips which was a great and really unique story as well, I'll probably talk about it next video.
@@agwriting I haven’t read those yet, I’ll check them out. A video on it would be very cool!
Hello!! I wanted to watch this video to hear your thoughts on some specific books from the title, so, as a suggestion, could your next videos have timestamps please, if you're able? That makes videos so much more comfy to use :]
I just tried to add some here. Don't think they showed up, but you can see the links in the description maybe? I will figure it out for the next video for sure.
@@agwriting they work, its all good!!
Yay thank you for the recs! I'm also studying in Stockholm right now! Have you checked out any english bookstores?
Yes! My favorite so far was 'The English Bookshop.' It felt like they had everything there. Besides that, it seems like most of the bookstores (at least in places like Old Town, where I've been a bunch) have decent sized english sections.
Update: Soderbokhandeln is gorgeous and they have a huge english section.
@@agwriting I’ll definitely check it out :) Can I get your insta?
@@nikoliaioli In the description!
I read Norwegian Wood and liked it but I’m assuming the translator didn’t do a good job with the dialogue. Every time a character spoke all I could think was “nobody talks like this.” And if you liked Barn Burning, they made a great film adaptation called Burning in 2018.
That's interesting, I'll let you know what I think of the dialogue. And I'll have to watch that for sure.
Wow, I just discovered your channel, hear you talking about books is very relaxing, you have a very calm voice. Anyway, I haven't read Chronicle of a Death Foretold, but one of my favorite books by Gabriel García Márquez is "One Hundred Years of Solitude", which is very well written especially in its original language. Also I'd love to know your opinion on Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." I just read it a few months ago and I think it's amazing, highly recommended.
I definitely need to read the The Handmaid's Tale, gonna try to get around to that when I'm back home. And I loved Chronicle, I'll be reading more Márquez for sure. One Hundred Years of Solitude is top of the list.
Do you have an ig page?
I put it in the description
do you have an insta?
I put it in the description since a couple people have asked