Reading Wrap-up 4/26

[vamp_ress]

Another really good month. Definitely more hits than misses!

McMurtry, Larry: Lonesome Dove. Simon & Schuster Audio. 2025
What an epic undertatking! I (and I'm not a native speaker) decided on the audiobook and doubted my sanity during the first two hours. I always need a bit of time to get used to a certain dialect - and this one comes in a nice Texan drawl. Or at least I suppose that this is what I was hearing, LOL. But even through I struggled through some of the language I enjoyed this so very much. I've rarely read something so out of my comfort zone that turns out to be so very addictive. If you like a tale with a lot of characters that are all fleshed out into the tiniest detail, then try this book. And don't let yourself dissuaded by the fact that this is a western!

Dunmore, Helen: The Siege. Penguin. 2001.
I picked this out of a little library without knowing anything about the author or the plot. Turns out this was actually nominated for the Women's Prize back when it was still called the Orange Prize.I liked this and will definitely look for more by the author. This is a convincing piece of historical fiction set during WWII (not my favourite setting) and the siege of Leningrad. If you're interested in a story that's not political or military but that deals with the experience of the normal, everyday people during war, this is one that won't disappoint.

Swarthout, Glendon: The Shootist. Books in Motion. 2010.
Another western but this one isn't nearly as excellent as Lonesome Dove. The premise is pretty cool: An aging gunslinger learns that he only has weeks to live. So he decides to go out with a bang. This tries to come with a surprise twist, but it's neither surprising nor much of a twist. The author didn't do much with his great idea.

Shafak, Elif. Honour. Penguin. 2013.
I read The Island of Missing Trees a while ago and always planned on trying more of Shafak's writing. So this was my next pick and again it was very good. A tough subject matter, but it's told so interestingly and with so much compassion that it swept me away. If you like early Isabel Allende, Shafak could be something for you!

Hari, Johann. Stolen Focus. Crown. 2023.
This guy proves his point (which is that we can't pay attention) by going on every possible tangeant in his book. Wouldn't recommend.

Comments

[vamp_ress]

You have a headstart on me. I'm working my way through McCarthy's novels, but I still have a few to go. I love everything that's bleak and dark and hopeless and McCarthy's certainly delivers on that front. "The Road" is still my favourite, but maybe only because dystopia is one of my favourite genres. (Well it was until Covid hit, at least.)

[rabbit_stew]

Blood Meridian feels like a dystopian nightmare, despite the historical setting.

Oddly, I thought The Road had a current of hope underneath. Despite the dystopian setting, the father's protectiveness, love, and hope for his son were uplifting. At least as uplifting as McCarthy can be.

[vamp_ress]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I've read "The Road" several times and I always bawl my eyes out at the ending, but it is hopeful. Yes, there will always be people who are out there to get you. But there are just as likely people out there who will help you. There will always those who carry the fire regardless of who lives and who dies.

[rabbit_stew]

Exactly! The Border Trilogy is somewhat like that as well. It's partly about generations and legacies. I couldn't see the text through the tears so many times.

Steinbeck's East of Eden is also an epic western for readers who do not normally read the genre. If you haven't read it, it's breathtaking.

[vamp_ress]

Incidentally, I have the Border Trilogy on my shelf as well. I'll get around to that eventually :) And if you say generations and legacies I already know this will be right up my alley. I love stories like those!

I had a very unsuccessful outing with the "Grapes of Wrath" this year, so I'll take a break from Steinbeck for the moment. But I'm not giving up on him. And the next I wanted to try from him was definitely "East of Eden".

[rabbit_stew]

The Grapes of Wrath is political propaganda. Steinbeck wrote a lot of propaganda, both fiction and nonfiction (his essays and travelogues are also good), from the Great Depression into the Vietnam era, some better than others. IMO East of Eden is his least political. I considered it to be his love letter to California.

But you may just not like his style. Plenty of people don't. He was a grumpy old man when he was 20. :)

[vamp_ress]

Oh, believe me, I noticed :) I grew up in a socialist country. I can identify propaganda when someone waves it in front of my face. And yes, it rubbed me the wrong way when I read "The Grapes of Wrath". I really don't take well being preached to about the superiority of communism.

It's definitely not his style, though. I remember reading "Of Mice and Men" as a teenager and absolutely loving it. So I'm game to try something else by him!

[rabbit_stew]

So many authors wrote political propaganda. Americans were pummeled with it and still are. Eventually, it becomes hard to swallow. I was so taken by Steinbeck's style that I gulped down everything he wrote. I read his work as an adult who knew better yet still didn't care. :)

You'll probably like East of Eden. It's a door-stopper but goes quickly.

[vamp_ress]

God, "The Grapes of Wrath" was a slog to get through. I admit that was probably in part due to the awful German translation that was probably done in the 1950s or something. It was terrible and borderline insulting. And there were parts that I did like - but those were few and far between and I was so relieved when it was over.

I'll have to see which of his books I can get a hold of. I've found that (modern) American classics are hard to come by in my library. And I really don't want to buy all of them. No one has unlimited shelf space :)