New Leaf Nominations for November 2019 • Books like Onions: Layers

[CRussel]

Yes, it looks interesting. But the wait at my two libraries is more than four months.

Charlie.

[BenG]

This isn't a nomination. The book is too long (almost 700 pages) and too strange for a book club, but The Saragossa Manuscript by Jan Potocki fits the theme very well.

It's the story of a soldier, Alphonse van Worden, who is traveling to Madrid and along the way encounters bandits, cabbalists, scientists, ghosts, the Inquisition, gypsies, and a pair of alluring Muslim princesses who may or may not be his distant cousins. What is real, what is story, and what is dream become so confused that the result achieves an irreverent blend of fantasy and Gothic romanticism. The book’s heroes are not only at odds with the forces of law and order but also with the structures of narrative and plot. There is van Worden’s frame story as he tries to reach Madrid, then there are the stories he encounters on his journey, and then there are the stories within those stories until finally nothing is certain.

There are stories within stories within stories. At one point we are five or more layers deep.

There is an excellent movie (Jerry Garcia's favorie), restored by Martin Scorsese, starring Zbigniew Cybulski, “the Polish James Dean”.
https://www.tor.com/2009/03/10/jan-p...-in-saragossa/

[issybird]

I'll third Once Upon a River.

[CRussel]

I'll third Ever After. It's not available at either of my libraries, but it's only £5.99 in the U.K., so a reasonable price ($10 CAD, or $7.40 USD). And it sounds interesting.

Charlie.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I'm late to the party. I was on a work trip and thought I'd have more time but couldn't even keep up with reading the thread....

I will add a book from the public domain and nominate The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. It is on a list of popular framed narrative novels (stories within stories) and is told through letters. That's how I am choosing to interpret the theme.

From Amazon:

A mysterious young widow arrives at Wildfell Hall, an Elizabethan mansion which has been empty for many years, with her young son and servant. She lives there in strict seclusion under the assumed name Helen Graham and very soon finds herself the victim of local slander. Refusing to believe anything scandalous about her, Gilbert Markham, a young farmer, discovers her dark secrets. In her diary, Helen writes about her husband's physical and moral decline through alcohol, and the world of debauchery and cruelty from which she has fled.

[issybird]

I'm out of nominations, but I'd love to see Tenant of Wildfell Hall make it to the poll.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I'm late to the party. I was on a work trip and thought I'd have more time but couldn't even keep up with reading the thread....

I will add a book from the public domain and nominate The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. It is on a list of popular framed narrative novels (stories within stories) and is told through letters. That's how I am choosing to interpret the theme.

From Amazon:

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm out of nominations, but I'd love to see Tenant of Wildfell Hall make it to the poll.

Well, I was holding out to see what else might come in, and I guess this is why. I'll second it with my last ticket.

[issybird]

We've got a day to go before nominations close.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I'm late to the party. I was on a work trip and thought I'd have more time but couldn't even keep up with reading the thread....

I will add a book from the public domain and nominate The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. It is on a list of popular framed narrative novels (stories within stories) and is told through letters. That's how I am choosing to interpret the theme.

I third Tenant. I'm not much of a fan of the other two Bronte sisters, but I've never read anything by Anne, and this title has been on my "someday" list for eons.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I third Tenant. I'm not much of a fan of the other two Bronte sisters, but I've never read anything by Anne, and this title has been on my "someday" list for eons.

I'd always held that there are Emily people and there are Charlotte people and I was firmly in the Wuthering Heights camp. Jane Eyre is a lot more sloggish and there's much that's distinctly creepy about Mr. Rochester. Heathcliff, your garden-variety sociopath, didn't bother me nearly as much!

But then I read Villette a few years ago and loved it, so now I give Charlotte her due also.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'd always held that there are Emily people and there are Charlotte people and I was firmly in the Wuthering Heights camp. Jane Eyre is a lot more sloggish and there's much that's distinctly creepy about Mr. Rochester. Heathcliff, your garden-variety sociopath, didn't bother me nearly as much!

But then I read Villette a few years ago and loved it, so now I give Charlotte her due also.

I definitely prefer Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre, but that's not saying a whole lot, since I despised Jane Eyre when it was foisted on me in high school and haven't been able to get through a rereading as an adult.

I revisited Wuthering Heights a couple of years ago via audiobook. Eh.

[Victoria]

I’ve been away for a few days too, so am relieved to see that there is still time to second The Memory Chalet. It has some passionate reviewers.

[CRussel]

In another thread, we were speaking of favourite narrators. Well, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall has 8 unabridged narrations on Audible, but one of them is read by two of my absolute favourite narrators, Frederick Davidson (David Case) and Nadia May (Wanda McCaddon). That alone will be enough to push it onto my active TBR whether we select it or not.

[Victoria]

If it hadn’t already been thirded, I would have voted for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.I’ve never read anything by Anne Bronte, so now I’m quite curious.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I read Agnes Grey by Anne last year. I’m slowly making my way through their works. A friend who grew up in Yorkshire said he and his wife really enjoyed the BBC series To Walk Invisible about the sisters.