The Literary List

[harmony_bites]

I've been reading off this list from The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List and did posts on the The Romance List and the Fantasy List. I now just polished off the Literary Fiction List so thought I'd post on those

Comments

[shiv5468]

It's a very American centric list. Anyone would think that there is no English litfic.

I've not read a lot of them and those I have read I thought were tedious. Possession is a bit like Wagner - it has good bits but by god they're thinly strung.

I loathe all great American novels on principle. Middle aged white men trying too hard and no story.

But then my reading pretty much stops after ww2

[harmony_bites]

It's a very American centric list. Anyone would think that there is no English litfic.

Oh, I don't know. There's plenty of Booker prize winners here. And some Brits. Byatt, McEwan, de Bernières, Haddon, Smith--out of 35 and considering the relative populations I don't think Brits are all that under-represented here given the emphasis on novels written in the last 25 years. There are books here by a Mexican and German national and books by people with a background in China, India, Afghanistan... Who do you think is missing who should be here among Brits writing in the last 25 years?

Possession is a bit like Wagner - it has good bits but by god they're thinly strung.

Heh. I don't disagree actually. What I loved I did love--but I got through it by skipping pretty much all the pastiches and the entire epistolary chapter.

I loathe all great American novels on principle. Middle aged white men trying too hard and no story.About half of the list--16 out of 35 are written by women you know--and some of those middle aged men can even write

[shiv5468]

THe great American novel comment is aimed more at delillo and his ilk.

I tell you who I actually like who writes lit fic - Julian Barnes. Clever witty and entertaining.

But I'm surprised not to see amis for one, for two really. Iris murdoch. Muriel spark. Angela carter. Rushdie some of which I actually like. John fowles.

[e_danae]

I've read "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" this summer and I totally agree with you. It's a great book, a total page-turner and so wonderfully written.
Plus as a Prague citizen, I really enjoyed the (correct and imaginative) description of the place (and I guess you might have enjoyed Chabon's NYC even more :)

[harmony_bites]

Hee. That's right. In a way we share the setting! It's great to know Chabon got Prague right. I can't quite completely vouch for his New York City--because it's not mine but that of the World War II era--but it feels right. As you put it, correct and imaginative.

[deeble]

I so agree with you about Andrei from We the Living -- a great character. (I didn't like Leo, personally.)

What a great list! Thank you for sharing it.

[harmony_bites]

I didn't like Leo either. But come to think of it, I don't tend to like or find interesting Rand's primary heroes. I hate Fountainhead's Roark and find Gail Wynand much more compelling and sympathetic. I find Galt unbelievably boring and unreal but find Francisco d'Anconia and Henry Rearden a lot more interesting.

But then hey, look at me and Rowling. I don't think she intended Snape to fire our sympathy and imagination... (And I do like Harry, but find him pretty boring)

[deeble]

It amused me greatly to see how Rowling reacted to fans' reactions to Snape. "But -- but why do you like him?" Some characters really get away from their authors. :-)

[harmony_bites]

Some characters really get away from their authors. :-)

They're usually the best ones...

I just wish Rowling had bowed to the logic of her "gift of a character" and really let him get away... (But then I don't think on the other side of things she understands how her Dumbledore and James, even Sirius hit a lot of us.. And I'm not sure if we're the norm or not) Oh well...