Hi Jack, I liked your “choose your own adventure” description. A Month in the Country is on my mental TBR. You’re right, it’s well loved on booktube. What! You mentioned Stockton, Ca! That’s my childhood stomping ground. Fantastic video, Jack.
Thanks, Shelly! I suspect you'll join the chorus for A Month in the Country once you read it. The character dynamics and writing style seem to be right in your wheelhouse. Hopefully your experiences in Stockton where a bit more uplifting than those of the journeyman boxers in Fat City. I'd be curious to know what you think of the descriptions of that area if you do ever read it. I hope this week is going well for you. Is your son's school out for the year yet? Cheers, Jack
I love the NYRB Classics line! I've read In A Lonely Place, Stoner and The Landbreakers by John Ehle. If you haven't already read it The Landbreakers is incredible with multiple scenes that really stick with you. I'm particularly interested in Fat City and the Rogue Male. Thanks for bringing them to my attention.
The Landbreakers sounds ver interesting, thanks for sharing! Stoner might be the most widely read NYRB Classic among my friends. I certainly hope you enjoy Rogue Male and Fat City if you give them a read, Julie! They are both dark but I’m very different ways. Best, Jack
Haha, it was a good one! Several are very funny with how they subvert what we expect from science fiction in interesting ways. I hope you're doing well, Lucas. Cheers, Jack
I received a gift certificate for NYRB books for my birthday so I'm trying to make a list of fiction I know I'd like. I just started Jean Stafford's Boston Adventure after having loved The Mountain Lion. One of my favorites is The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton, a WWII boarding house comic novel. Have a good weekend!
I just acquired a copy of Jean Stafford's Collected Stories as we started packing up the library, glad I left it out! Slaves of Solitude sounds interesting, so I'll have to keep that one in mind. I hope you're having a wonderful week, Sonya. Cheers, Jack
Fascinating video. The only NYRBs I have read and enjoyed have been Soul by Platonov and Poets in a Landscape. You have to give them credit for being bold in their publishing choices. I will check out that Book of Stories volume. Turgenev + the Book of Jonah seems like a really odd combination!
I appreciate that they really seem to dig into nations that are not well-represented in other "classics" or "modern classics" line-ups, even if they still skew European. Which of the stories in Soul was your favorite? Jarrell's Book of Stories is excellent; I feel fortunate to have stumbled upon a used copy. Hope you're well! Cheers, Jack
Ooo loved this. If anything will get my eyes popping it’s NYRB collections. Sweet, sweet content. The oral exam was fascinating in Stoner and yeah! It’s weird what people take away from the book. I thought it was pretty much a critique of his mindset. Not like… quiet dignity well lived. More like What Not To Do lol Very excited for In A Lonely Place! Got it recently! I have Storm as well. I think I’ll like it just because I haven’t read something with a conceit like it before and I tend to get a lot out of novel (to me) experiences.
Thanks, Fraser, please let me know if you enjoy Storm. I can see it being the type of work that interests you. I ended up loaning it to a student for the summer. In a Lonely Place is fantastic, one of my favorite crime novels! I like your comment on Stoner. I though Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas took a different, satiric route on the same type of character. I suspect that modern readers of Stoner ascribe a philosophy of inaction to the character that Williams may never have intended. I hope this week is going well for you! Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 I’m excited to get to those quite a bit then! Especially Bras Cubas, I’ve been excited for it since November but when I do have a free read it’ll be out of sync with my mood. I try to make sure humours stuff lands at the right time for me because I generally don’t like it. Makes those ones less frequent in the docket. Same to you, Jack. Hope all is well and the library move is going okay, If started!
