Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Finished The Hole. I thought it was a poor imitation of Haruki Murakama. The ending is way too abrupt, and the female character (strikes me) as very weak, very unintelligent, and very much lacking in insight.

Sabato would have been next, but I decided to re-read Jonathan Littell (The Fata Morgana Books) next, one I read when it first came out. I enjoy books that are rich and deep, and written in a 'modernist' writing style. Think Proust, Musil, Mann, et al. The book was a critical failure when it came out, but not for me.

I'm still amazed at how an author (Littell) can produce a piece of sci-fi crap at age 21 (?) and then produce a work of maturity and insight (and disgust) with a novel that, if not equal to the thematic content of his father's big novel, is certainly equal in length.

Finished the Littell story collection [The Fata Morgana Books], and it didn't leave much of an impression this second time around, compared to the way it hit me when it first came out. It's heavy on violent, disgusting sex.

I've now started The Tunnel, by Ernesto Sabato. This is a wonderful (so far) short novel of obsession mixed with a narcissistic personality. (You know the type; they are everywhere.)

When I finish this one, I may start on a title by Jon Fosse.

[Dr. Drib]

Finished The Tunnel, by Ernesto Sabato. This was a wonderful short novel of obsessive love told through the mind of a diseased narcissist. Recommended for lovers of literary fiction. And anyone you may know who is intolerable to be around.

Now reading Sardonicus, by Ray Russell. (This is the novella only and not the collection of stories of the same title.) This is a gothic horror story. Read this description of Sardonicus, who has "[...An] affliction that caused his lips to be pulled perpetually apart from each other, baring his teeth in a continuous ghastly smile." Lovers of horror can't ignore that! It reminds me of the classic film, The Man Who Laughs. I'll finish Russell's story today.

My next two reads will be by Domenico Starnone, an important Italian writer of literary fiction. I previously read four of his novels and loved them, so I just now purchased two that I plan to read after Russell: The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan, and then The House on Via Gemito. By the way, that last title is currently on sale from Amazon for $2.99 !!

When I finish those two, I'll settle on a short novel by Nobel winner Jon Fosse. I don't know which one; I'm in no hurry.