i’m reading 2666 right now and i’m almost done, man i can’t imagine how you didn’t love it. it’s one of the most exciting and gripping things i’ve read in a long time.
My favorite Bolaño is brief Bolaño, Amulet, Distant Star, Nazi Literature in the Americas, and his short stories. Since you already read The Savage Detectives I strongly recommend Amulet, where he takes one of the characters in Savage Detectives and expands her story. I think that little book is better than the whole of The Savage Detectives.
After seeing one of your Instagram stories, I immediately bought a copy of The Catholic School and ended up loving it. Such a unique book! Likewise, I think Albinati did a masterful job painting a portrait of 1970’s Rome. To me, some of the most compelling passages of the book were his reflections on masculinity and Roman attitudes towards wealth and social status. In many ways, the tensions between the Roman working class, bourgeoisie, fascists, and communists have stood the test of time and morphed into the modern-day idea of “Roma Nord” vs “Roma Sud” (Northern Rome vs Southern Rome). The class boundaries are more present than ever, I’d argue. If you’re interested in reading about another Italian scandal from the 70’s, I’d recommend Leonardo Sciascia’s The Moro Affair. Great video as always!
Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed it as well! Interesting point about how these things haven't changed and have simply solidified over time. I'll check out Sciascia's The Moro Affair for sure - I did a bit of research on that when researching for my review and it seemed like a crazy scandal. I didn't know that there was a literary book about it!
Your channel fascinates, inspires and thrills me. Fantastic, Sean! Love the review in short of Tomb of Sand and again, I just really vibe with this! My favorite man! Awesome .
Thanks, Ryan! I'm really glad you enjoyed. Hopefully I can put together my thoughts on Tomb of Sand a bit more coherently for a proper review. That book has a lot going on and deserves some extra thought.
Tomb of Sand sounds intriguing to me, I've just added it to my TBR list, nowadays, I'm trying to diversify to experience some famous books, I'll love to experience Tomb of Sand, your description and the title alone is captivating to me. Thanks for the recommendation.
My copy of The Catholic School is due to arrive soon, and if it weren’t for the Terra Nostra read-along, I would likely jump into that immediately. That said, I just ordered a copy of The Moment, which is again very relevant to my interests, and will definitely sneak that in before August begins. Can’t thank you enough for your recommendations and thoroughly enjoyable videos. They are such a pleasure.
That's great to hear, Brian! I'm glad I've piqued your interest in The Catholic School. The Terra Nostra reading group is going to be a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy The Moment - it's a really great little book. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for reading and recommending so many books I’m not aware of- even if it does make for a long wish list! 😉I loved Tomb of Sand although I thought it started off slow and then just got better and better. You’re so right about the translation and I always appreciate that Tilted Axis will often have an essay by or interview with the translator to give insight into their process.
Tilted Axis is fantastic - I too love the small translator's note at the end of the book. Rockwell really gave some fascinating context to her translation in hers. Apologies for adding to the never-ending TBR! Hah!
I've already seen your excellent 'The Catholic School' review. Generally books on Partition of India in my mother tongue (I'm from the east) have resonated with me the most. If you're interested, English short stories by Sadar Hasan Manto on Partition may be worth looking up. They are about what happened to civilians, very short and almost matter-of-fact, but the images haunt me whenever I think of them. Two particularly good stories are 'Thanda Gosht' and 'Khol Do'. I am checking out the 'Lapvona' review now. I've been interested in checking out Otessa Moshfegh's writing but the reviews about her deep delve into the disturbing parts of the female psyche have made me wary e.g. I've consciously stayed away from Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar'. Great wrap-up. 🙂 The way you read some passages out is really nice.
Thank you for the recommendations - I appreciate it a lot. Moshfegh definitely gets into the disturbing and depraved in Lapvona, but it's pretty interesting if you can stomach it!
If I may ask, how do you stay updated on what's new/what's coming out? I'm doing my best, yet, I always miss some really good books, both of fiction and nonfiction. It's much easier with music and film when it comes to new releases.
That's a good question. I basically just follow a lot of publishers that I like and other people who stay up-to-date on new releases on twitter and instagram. I still haven't figured out the way to do it though.
Fantastic stuff as usual. I think I’ll probbbbably, if I have the time, start The Catholic School next month. Alllso have Tomb of Sand to get to. Booker reading got me behind.
Cheers! I'm interested to hear what you make of Tomb of Sand at a craft level. It has a very unique way of storytelling, more akin to myth than novels, I think, which worked for me but I can imagine that it wouldn't work for some others.
The Moment sounds interesting, for sure! It's well-trodden territory, but you're right that the quality of the prose seems to elevate it from the general meandering conversations on the subject of late-era capitalism that has killed many a late night party! As far as your amount of novel-reading goes; at some point I realised that to spend less than a week on something that has been written over several years (in many cases) might be a bit counter-productive. I much appreciate taking my time over treating novels as trophees to be displayed on my shelf these days. I've enjoyed Sara Stridsberg's ouvre, and am currently entering the final stories of the short story collection "Hunter i Huskvarna". I think you'd enjoy it. I've also got a few pages left of "Woman Running in the Mountains" by Yuko Tsushima. I used to read and watch and listen to a lot of Japanese Avant Garde culture in the past, and with the discovery of Haru Nemuri (pop musician) and her latest release, I decided to pick a random Japanese NYRB Classic at the local book store. It's a strange little jewel of a book, dealing with the minutiae of unplanned pregnancy and single motherhood in the 70s (in Japan) while coming to terms with yourself.
Exactly! The Moment touches on familiar territory, but it's very worth reading. I've been interested in Stridsberg for a while - I have her Valerie on my shelf now. Thank for reminding me of her. I'm not sure if her short stories are translated, but I'll look into them! The Yuko Tsushima book sounds wonderful... NYRB rarely misses, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that one as well! Thanks for the recommendations, Tonny!
i’m reading 2666 right now and i’m almost done, man i can’t imagine how you didn’t love it. it’s one of the most exciting and gripping things i’ve read in a long time.
My favorite Bolaño is brief Bolaño, Amulet, Distant Star, Nazi Literature in the Americas, and his short stories. Since you already read The Savage Detectives I strongly recommend Amulet, where he takes one of the characters in Savage Detectives and expands her story. I think that little book is better than the whole of The Savage Detectives.
Great! I'll pick up Amulet - thanks for the recommendation!
After seeing one of your Instagram stories, I immediately bought a copy of The Catholic School and ended up loving it. Such a unique book! Likewise, I think Albinati did a masterful job painting a portrait of 1970’s Rome. To me, some of the most compelling passages of the book were his reflections on masculinity and Roman attitudes towards wealth and social status. In many ways, the tensions between the Roman working class, bourgeoisie, fascists, and communists have stood the test of time and morphed into the modern-day idea of “Roma Nord” vs “Roma Sud” (Northern Rome vs Southern Rome). The class boundaries are more present than ever, I’d argue. If you’re interested in reading about another Italian scandal from the 70’s, I’d recommend Leonardo Sciascia’s The Moro Affair.
Great video as always!
Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed it as well! Interesting point about how these things haven't changed and have simply solidified over time. I'll check out Sciascia's The Moro Affair for sure - I did a bit of research on that when researching for my review and it seemed like a crazy scandal. I didn't know that there was a literary book about it!
Your channel fascinates, inspires and thrills me. Fantastic, Sean! Love the review in short of Tomb of Sand and again, I just really vibe with this! My favorite man! Awesome .
Thanks, Ryan! I'm really glad you enjoyed. Hopefully I can put together my thoughts on Tomb of Sand a bit more coherently for a proper review. That book has a lot going on and deserves some extra thought.
Come back, Sean! Your readings and commentaries are fantastic!
I appreciate it!!
Tomb of Sand sounds intriguing to me, I've just added it to my TBR list, nowadays, I'm trying to diversify to experience some famous books, I'll love to experience Tomb of Sand, your description and the title alone is captivating to me. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great video. It's great to hear a few samples.
Thank you! Looking forward to checking out your videos - I've been meaning to watch your Gormenghast one but haven't gotten to it yet.
Really looking forward to your video on Tomb of Sand!!!
My copy of The Catholic School is due to arrive soon, and if it weren’t for the Terra Nostra read-along, I would likely jump into that immediately. That said, I just ordered a copy of The Moment, which is again very relevant to my interests, and will definitely sneak that in before August begins. Can’t thank you enough for your recommendations and thoroughly enjoyable videos. They are such a pleasure.
That's great to hear, Brian! I'm glad I've piqued your interest in The Catholic School. The Terra Nostra reading group is going to be a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy The Moment - it's a really great little book. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for reading and recommending so many books I’m not aware of- even if it does make for a long wish list! 😉I loved Tomb of Sand although I thought it started off slow and then just got better and better. You’re so right about the translation and I always appreciate that Tilted Axis will often have an essay by or interview with the translator to give insight into their process.
Tilted Axis is fantastic - I too love the small translator's note at the end of the book. Rockwell really gave some fascinating context to her translation in hers. Apologies for adding to the never-ending TBR! Hah!
I've already seen your excellent 'The Catholic School' review.
Generally books on Partition of India in my mother tongue (I'm from the east) have resonated with me the most. If you're interested, English short stories by Sadar Hasan Manto on Partition may be worth looking up. They are about what happened to civilians, very short and almost matter-of-fact, but the images haunt me whenever I think of them. Two particularly good stories are 'Thanda Gosht' and 'Khol Do'.
I am checking out the 'Lapvona' review now. I've been interested in checking out Otessa Moshfegh's writing but the reviews about her deep delve into the disturbing parts of the female psyche have made me wary e.g. I've consciously stayed away from Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar'.
Great wrap-up. 🙂 The way you read some passages out is really nice.
Thank you for the recommendations - I appreciate it a lot. Moshfegh definitely gets into the disturbing and depraved in Lapvona, but it's pretty interesting if you can stomach it!
If I may ask, how do you stay updated on what's new/what's coming out? I'm doing my best, yet, I always miss some really good books, both of fiction and nonfiction. It's much easier with music and film when it comes to new releases.
That's a good question. I basically just follow a lot of publishers that I like and other people who stay up-to-date on new releases on twitter and instagram. I still haven't figured out the way to do it though.
Hello from Greece!!
I love your content 💗
Thank you so much!
Fantastic stuff as usual. I think I’ll probbbbably, if I have the time, start The Catholic School next month. Alllso have Tomb of Sand to get to. Booker reading got me behind.
Cheers! I'm interested to hear what you make of Tomb of Sand at a craft level. It has a very unique way of storytelling, more akin to myth than novels, I think, which worked for me but I can imagine that it wouldn't work for some others.
@@travelthroughstories hm interesting! Like 5 people have said I should check it out and curious what I make of it so It’ll be happening!
agree w/ u on lapvona and tomb of sand. catholic school sounds v interesting!!
Okay I think you sold me on The Catholic School with that "true crime as written by Karl Ove Knausgaard" elevator pitch haha
Hah! Yeah, it's a perfect elevator pitch...
The Moment sounds interesting, for sure! It's well-trodden territory, but you're right that the quality of the prose seems to elevate it from the general meandering conversations on the subject of late-era capitalism that has killed many a late night party!
As far as your amount of novel-reading goes; at some point I realised that to spend less than a week on something that has been written over several years (in many cases) might be a bit counter-productive. I much appreciate taking my time over treating novels as trophees to be displayed on my shelf these days.
I've enjoyed Sara Stridsberg's ouvre, and am currently entering the final stories of the short story collection "Hunter i Huskvarna". I think you'd enjoy it. I've also got a few pages left of "Woman Running in the Mountains" by Yuko Tsushima. I used to read and watch and listen to a lot of Japanese Avant Garde culture in the past, and with the discovery of Haru Nemuri (pop musician) and her latest release, I decided to pick a random Japanese NYRB Classic at the local book store. It's a strange little jewel of a book, dealing with the minutiae of unplanned pregnancy and single motherhood in the 70s (in Japan) while coming to terms with yourself.
Exactly! The Moment touches on familiar territory, but it's very worth reading. I've been interested in Stridsberg for a while - I have her Valerie on my shelf now. Thank for reminding me of her. I'm not sure if her short stories are translated, but I'll look into them!
The Yuko Tsushima book sounds wonderful... NYRB rarely misses, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that one as well! Thanks for the recommendations, Tonny!
Thanks for the Catholic School and The Moment. I have added them to my list.
Great! I hope you enjoy them, Abhilash.
Just ordered Albinati. Sounds great.
Good to hear! Enjoy!
Antwerp is such a crazy novella. Especially if you live in Antwerp and you have no idea why it has that title 🤔🤔
Haha - yeah, I have no idea why it has that name... I was hoping someone could clarify that for me!