Reading Wrap-up 5/26
Jun. 4th, 2026 07:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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booknookWow, I read a lot of books in May. However, most of them were short, so it's actually not like I read more than I normally do. It just seems that way.
Mann, Thomas: Death in Venice. Penguin. 1991
After Buddenbrooks, this was my second Mann. It was not as addictive as Buddenbrooks, but certainly still a very good novella. I feel like Mann is so very good at describing the "summer vibe" - that very distinct feeling when you're on vacation and time seems somehow suspended. He does that both in Buddenbrooks and in Death in Venice. I've never seen that particular feeling described anywhere else so poignantly.
Taylor, Peter: A Summons to Memphis. Vintage. 1999.
Not a very successful outing as I felt I should have gotten more out of this book than I actually did. There is lot going on under the surface, but somehow I didn't connect with that subtext.
DeLillo, Don: The Silence. Scribner. 2020.
Mhm, no. This is only 100 pages long and tries to be philosophical and dystopian, but it never spends enough time with any of the many topics and themes that get mentioned to feel in any way rewarding. And the dialogues were just ... baaaaaad. Oh, my.
Richardson, Kim Michele: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Sourcebook Landmarks. 2019.
After Jojo Moyes' The Bringer of Stars my second novel about the Kentucky Pack Horse Library, which is an absolutely fascinating topic, but apparently no one is able to put that into a good novel. Any Americans here who could recommend something worthwhile on the subject of the Pack Horse Library? Is there a good non-fiction book where I could learn more about it? Novels don't seem to cut it.
Kopetzky, Steffen: Damenopfer. Rowohlt. 2023 (German)
Kopetzky writes interesting historical novels that are a little off the beaten path. This one is about an actual historical figure (Larissa Reissner), but most importantly it's about the cultural and political shift in Europe (Soviet Russia and Germany in particular) that took place in the 1920s. Very interesting if you like a good panorama - lots of name-dropping from Stalin to Nabokov included!
Lewis, Herbert Clyde: Gentleman Overboard. Boiler Press. 2021.
This was the highlight of the month, I enjoyed this a lot! It's a short novel about a gentleman (that detail is important) who goes on a sea voyage and falls off the ship. Instead of screaming for help he decides instead to not inconvenience anyone. Things will sort themselves out ... yeah, sure. This was half satire, half psychoanalysis. And the authorial voice was to-die-for.
Forster, E. M.: The Longest Journey. Penguin. 2006.
Apperently, this was Forster's favourite amongst his novels. However, it feels a bit disjointed and never turned into a cohesive narrative for me. It had strong moments and scenes, but it smelled a little of Hardy to me in the sense that the plot was so terribly ill-fated. But again: Forster has a knack for really strong endings!
Mina, Denise: Rizzio. Polygon. 2021.
Not worth your time if you have even a passing knowledge of the Mary Stuart and Rizzio story. Denise Mina doesn't add anything new (apart from alluding to something going on between Rizzio and Darnley, because apparently we can't do without a queer angle nowadays). This read like barely fictionalised non-fiction. Or it read like gapfiller fanfic from someone just starting out in a fandom and trying something safe. Forgettable.
Brautigan, Richard: The Hawkline Monster. Canongate. 2017.
Absurd and funny. Quite possibly written while the author was either drunk or high or even both. But I was amused and laughed out loud several times, so that was a win. Also, it's short and therefore doesn't overstay its welcome. (Always a problem with humour - oftentimes it simply goes on for too long, which sucks the fun out of it.)
Mann, Thomas: Death in Venice. Penguin. 1991
After Buddenbrooks, this was my second Mann. It was not as addictive as Buddenbrooks, but certainly still a very good novella. I feel like Mann is so very good at describing the "summer vibe" - that very distinct feeling when you're on vacation and time seems somehow suspended. He does that both in Buddenbrooks and in Death in Venice. I've never seen that particular feeling described anywhere else so poignantly.
Taylor, Peter: A Summons to Memphis. Vintage. 1999.
Not a very successful outing as I felt I should have gotten more out of this book than I actually did. There is lot going on under the surface, but somehow I didn't connect with that subtext.
DeLillo, Don: The Silence. Scribner. 2020.
Mhm, no. This is only 100 pages long and tries to be philosophical and dystopian, but it never spends enough time with any of the many topics and themes that get mentioned to feel in any way rewarding. And the dialogues were just ... baaaaaad. Oh, my.
Richardson, Kim Michele: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Sourcebook Landmarks. 2019.
After Jojo Moyes' The Bringer of Stars my second novel about the Kentucky Pack Horse Library, which is an absolutely fascinating topic, but apparently no one is able to put that into a good novel. Any Americans here who could recommend something worthwhile on the subject of the Pack Horse Library? Is there a good non-fiction book where I could learn more about it? Novels don't seem to cut it.
Kopetzky, Steffen: Damenopfer. Rowohlt. 2023 (German)
Kopetzky writes interesting historical novels that are a little off the beaten path. This one is about an actual historical figure (Larissa Reissner), but most importantly it's about the cultural and political shift in Europe (Soviet Russia and Germany in particular) that took place in the 1920s. Very interesting if you like a good panorama - lots of name-dropping from Stalin to Nabokov included!
Lewis, Herbert Clyde: Gentleman Overboard. Boiler Press. 2021.
This was the highlight of the month, I enjoyed this a lot! It's a short novel about a gentleman (that detail is important) who goes on a sea voyage and falls off the ship. Instead of screaming for help he decides instead to not inconvenience anyone. Things will sort themselves out ... yeah, sure. This was half satire, half psychoanalysis. And the authorial voice was to-die-for.
Forster, E. M.: The Longest Journey. Penguin. 2006.
Apperently, this was Forster's favourite amongst his novels. However, it feels a bit disjointed and never turned into a cohesive narrative for me. It had strong moments and scenes, but it smelled a little of Hardy to me in the sense that the plot was so terribly ill-fated. But again: Forster has a knack for really strong endings!
Mina, Denise: Rizzio. Polygon. 2021.
Not worth your time if you have even a passing knowledge of the Mary Stuart and Rizzio story. Denise Mina doesn't add anything new (apart from alluding to something going on between Rizzio and Darnley, because apparently we can't do without a queer angle nowadays). This read like barely fictionalised non-fiction. Or it read like gapfiller fanfic from someone just starting out in a fandom and trying something safe. Forgettable.
Brautigan, Richard: The Hawkline Monster. Canongate. 2017.
Absurd and funny. Quite possibly written while the author was either drunk or high or even both. But I was amused and laughed out loud several times, so that was a win. Also, it's short and therefore doesn't overstay its welcome. (Always a problem with humour - oftentimes it simply goes on for too long, which sucks the fun out of it.)