Comments on: The novelist in early winter http://smartercompany.com/the-novelist-in-early-winter/ Dispatches from the digital frontier Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:12:58 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Bobbie http://smartercompany.com/the-novelist-in-early-winter/comment-page-1/#comment-15269 Bobbie Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:04:31 +0000 http://smartercompany.com/?p=126#comment-15269 For me, the mark of a really good novel is when I finish it and find myself still living within its "universe" for the next several hours or days. I also appreciate novels that force me to struggle intellectually against the conclusion or celebrate the profoundity of it - all the while admiring how the author had beautifully developed the elements that got her/him there. Tim O'Brien, "In the Lake of the Woods" and Yann Martel, "Life of Pi" are two all time favorites because of their endings. McCarthy is a favorite of mine for the universes he can lead me to, making them feel as if I have always lived there. I've read about everything he's written except for "The Road." I'm avoiding that one because I have never enjoyed end of the world, fatalistic, doom and gloom settings. The world of the moment has enough of that going on in it already. If anyone can recommend a really good novel about the future that is more utopian - where we actually come out OK as a human race - I'd love to read it. An English teacher of mine long ago turned me on to Thoreau and B.F. Skinner. I'm longing lately to go back to those roots. Lee, I look forward to reading "The Moon in Deep Winter." There are ice shacks outside my window as I type this. The temperature is hovering around 5 degrees farenheit with the wind chill and we have had far greater than average snowfall for the month of December. People lose their minds and domestic violence escalates during the long, light-starved winters of our northern rural existence. For me, the mark of a really good novel is when I finish it and find myself still living within its “universe” for the next several hours or days. I also appreciate novels that force me to struggle intellectually against the conclusion or celebrate the profoundity of it – all the while admiring how the author had beautifully developed the elements that got her/him there.

Tim O’Brien, “In the Lake of the Woods” and Yann Martel, “Life of Pi” are two all time favorites because of their endings.

McCarthy is a favorite of mine for the universes he can lead me to, making them feel as if I have always lived there. I’ve read about everything he’s written except for “The Road.” I’m avoiding that one because I have never enjoyed end of the world, fatalistic, doom and gloom settings. The world of the moment has enough of that going on in it already.

If anyone can recommend a really good novel about the future that is more utopian – where we actually come out OK as a human race – I’d love to read it. An English teacher of mine long ago turned me on to Thoreau and B.F. Skinner. I’m longing lately to go back to those roots.

Lee, I look forward to reading “The Moon in Deep Winter.” There are ice shacks outside my window as I type this. The temperature is hovering around 5 degrees farenheit with the wind chill and we have had far greater than average snowfall for the month of December. People lose their minds and domestic violence escalates during the long, light-starved winters of our northern rural existence.

]]> By: Lee http://smartercompany.com/the-novelist-in-early-winter/comment-page-1/#comment-14754 Lee Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:50:06 +0000 http://smartercompany.com/?p=126#comment-14754 William Boyd should be on any list of notable authors. I especially enjoyed his last two novels, "Any Human Heart" and "Restless." The former is presented as a faux-journal spanning many decades in the fictitious author's life and deftly mimics the change of voice as the "author" grows older and presumably wiser. For the novel I'm writing now, which also takes the form of a fictional memoir of sorts, I'm particularly intrigued with this format. Any suggestions of similarly structured novels? William Boyd should be on any list of notable authors. I especially enjoyed his last two novels, “Any Human Heart” and “Restless.” The former is presented as a faux-journal spanning many decades in the fictitious author’s life and deftly mimics the change of voice as the “author” grows older and presumably wiser. For the novel I’m writing now, which also takes the form of a fictional memoir of sorts, I’m particularly intrigued with this format. Any suggestions of similarly structured novels?

]]> By: Tom http://smartercompany.com/the-novelist-in-early-winter/comment-page-1/#comment-14525 Tom Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:12:39 +0000 http://smartercompany.com/?p=126#comment-14525 I agree with "Dog Soldiers," and in that vein, Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead," both of which delivered the horrors of war in a believable way. I've read some Roth, I liked "The Plot Against America" and some Bellow, but the thought of it now seems like work ;-> The following also made an impression on me when I read them: The World According to Garp, by John Irving The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, by Alan Sillitoe The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway A Good Day to Die, by Jim Harrison Catch 22, by Joseph Heller Something Happened, by Joseph Heller More recently, I really loved "City of Theives" by David Benioff. It's set in St. Petersburg during the seige of that city by the Nazis and it's a really terrific piece of story-telling. And thanks to Lee I found the novels of Alan Furst -- all set in pre-WWII Europe, they invariably feature a reluctant hero set against an atmosphere of longing and desperation; it's like reading Casablanca, always a treat. I agree with “Dog Soldiers,” and in that vein, Mailer’s “The Naked and the Dead,” both of which delivered the horrors of war in a believable way. I’ve read some Roth, I liked “The Plot Against America” and some Bellow, but the thought of it now seems like work ;->

The following also made an impression on me when I read them:
The World According to Garp, by John Irving
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, by Alan Sillitoe
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
A Good Day to Die, by Jim Harrison
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
Something Happened, by Joseph Heller

More recently, I really loved “City of Theives” by David Benioff. It’s set in St. Petersburg during the seige of that city by the Nazis and it’s a really terrific piece of story-telling.

And thanks to Lee I found the novels of Alan Furst — all set in pre-WWII Europe, they invariably feature a reluctant hero set against an atmosphere of longing and desperation; it’s like reading Casablanca, always a treat.

]]> By: SeahawksFan http://smartercompany.com/the-novelist-in-early-winter/comment-page-1/#comment-14516 SeahawksFan Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:49:44 +0000 http://smartercompany.com/?p=126#comment-14516 Good interview. Interesting reading list. I thought 92 in the Shade was a great book when I first read it in the late '70s--I even taught it--but I do not think it has aged well with time. I would like to read Dog Soldiers again, as I was also really impressed when I first read it; I would like to think it would hold up. I might check out the Denis Johnson book he referenced; I am enjoying his Tree of Smoke. I can think of better McCarthy novels, including Blood Meridian and The Crossing and even Cities of the Plains. I am embarrassed that I have not read Carey, Munro, and Lively. I hope to get around to them someday. How could Bellow, Roth, William Vollmann, Richard Powers, or William Boyd be left off any such list? That's what makes these kinds of lists interesting for debate. Good interview. Interesting reading list. I thought 92 in the Shade was a great book when I first read it in the late ’70s–I even taught it–but I do not think it has aged well with time. I would like to read Dog Soldiers again, as I was also really impressed when I first read it; I would like to think it would hold up. I might check out the Denis Johnson book he referenced; I am enjoying his Tree of Smoke. I can think of better McCarthy novels, including Blood Meridian and The Crossing and even Cities of the Plains. I am embarrassed that I have not read Carey, Munro, and Lively. I hope to get around to them someday. How could Bellow, Roth, William Vollmann, Richard Powers, or William Boyd be left off any such list? That’s what makes these kinds of lists interesting for debate.

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