Reading Recommendations by Salon participants

Sometimes I have to drag myself out of the deep reading that the Salon immerses me in…and I can always count on Salon readers for great and discerning recommendations. The weekend Review section of the Guardian showcased one of my favourite contemporary fiction writers Alice Munro and introduced me to a writer I will seek out for her explorations across the gender line: A. M. Homes.

Here is a recent reading list from Denise of the Paris Salons: “…since compiling it I’ve just seen Hilary Mantel has won the Booker Prize this year for the SECOND time with her sequel to Wolf Hall. She deserves it.”

Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald (German professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia, who died in 2001) A masterpiece of contemporary literature. “A superb meditation on time, loss and retrieval. A new kind of writing, combining fictions, memoir…philosophy.” A MUST.

Bring up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel. A great sequel to Wolf Hall: a modern language historical romp based on Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister and his role at court at the time of Ann Boleyn’s demise. Brilliant.

The Blue Flower (about the dramatic youth and loves of the philosopher Novalis) and The Beginning of Spring (about the dramas of an English/Russian couple living in Russia in 1922) by Penelope Fitzgerald (she started writing late in life and died in 2000). I’ve just discovered this remarkable writer, and her innovative writing style, thanks to a member of our Salon Odile Hellier,

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan. A novella which he wrote years ago, and for me the best book I’ve read by him. A curious, disturbing tale of a couple’s stay in Venice which slowly spirals into violence and obsession. Compact and chilling!

The Poetry of Thought by George Steiner (former Professor of Compared Lit at Cambridge, foremost international intellectual), I’m a fan of his, and here he shows how great thought is carried by great language and style.

Here is a selection from a reading group list that Carol of the London Salons is involved in (Books read by our book group acc to country where apt and starred/commented briefly upon by Carol and/or group. )

Nigeria: Achebe, Chinoa. Things Fall Apart. *** a classic
Eire: Banville, John. The Book of Evidence. ***
UK: Barker Pat. Regeneration ***
Eire: Barry, Sebastian. The Secret Scripture ***
Ulster but international as takes place in Congo: Bennett Ronan The Catastrophist ****
USA/ English author domiciled both countries: Gaiman, Neil. American Gods. ** The group generally didn’t really get this but my husband and I rate it highly and I think it could be a marvellous one to perhaps end your tour with. The premise – where do their gods go when whole cultures move ie to the Land of the Free? It is so clever and manages to answer this question and show what might be happening as the gods evolve/fade away, find new roles. It is also cleverly critical AND understanding of mass culture. Much more than fantasy which is why I like it so much.
England: Garner, Alan The Weirdstone of Brisingamen **
England: Gaskell. Elizabeth. North & South. ***
Burma, Malaya & India & Bangladesh: Ghosh, Amitav. The Glass Palace. *** Another excellent find and he is an author to read more of, born in Calcutta and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, written on Hong Kong too in Sea of Poppies
Mexico, English author, Greene, Graham. The Power and The Glory. ****

From Bronwyn of the Paris Salons:
Teju Cole “Open City” http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2011/02/28/110228crbo_books_wood

 

From WWM of the Paris Salons

The book I referenced was “Violence and the Sacred” by René Girard.

The quick Wiki summary:
René Girard (born December 25, 1923) is a French historianliterary critic, and philosopher of social science. His work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy. He is the author of nearly thirty books, in which he developed the ideas of:
  1. mimetic desire: all of our desires are borrowed from other people;
  2. mimetic rivalry: all conflict originates in mimetic desire;
  3. the scapegoat mechanism is the origin of sacrifice and the foundation of human culture, and religion was necessary in human evolution to control the violence that can come from mimetic rivalry;
  4. the Bible reveals the three previous ideas and denounces the scapegoat mechanism.

And then, my now beloved David Foster Wallace.  His fiction and his essays.  Maybe his essays provide a more accessible entry into his work.  I would suggest “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Neve Do Again” as a collection of his essays, and of course, Infinite Jest, for his fiction.  What I can say about him is he makes me feel more awake.

Please email further recommendations to me…..

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