Welcome to this week’s blog. Here’s our roundup of your comments and photos from last week.
We are firmly in the holiday reading season, and beerbart makes it sound like a lot of fun:
On the last night of my holiday in Whitby and I’ve been racing through John Le Carré’s A Most Wanted Man. Despite all the action proceeding through interrogation (a hallmark of Le Carré) it somehow feels to be his purest page turner. Can’t wait to see how it unravels.
Meanwhile, originalabsence has been “really enjoying” A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul.
It is superb... Surely there are few living authors having such grace with authentic real world nerve. Even when the book is describing a scary potential heart of darkness moment, you almost want to physically go there to experience that palpable reality that sometimes passes unnoticed in your own daily life.
Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See has impressed paulburns:
Wonderful! Magical! All those great things reviewers have said about it. An immensely enjoyable page turner of a book, exquisitely written. The dual story of a blind French girl, Marie-Laure, and a 15 year old German soldier whose separate lives inch closer as the Nazi conquest and the defeat spreads across and then recedes from Europe Russia. Central to the story are the tiny models of part of Paris and St Malo made by Marie-Laure’s father to help her find her way around both cities, and the cursed, magical diamond entrusted to his and her keeping. It’s a wonderful heart-warmer and if you’re feeling like something like that, just read it.
The Godfather by Mario Puzo has had a similar impact on goldgato:
Magnificent. Echoing America’s transition from innocence to corruption. I enjoyed the many different characters including the Dean Martin figure (not included in the movies). The writing is to-the-point, rather like the Don himself and Puzo will use an entire chapter on a supporting personality to slyly explain a main character’s denouement. I would especially recommend listening to the Nino Rota soundtracks while reading. Very atmospheric.
And Oudtshoorn has been “delighted” by Elizabeth Strout’s Anything is Possible:
I relished reading it and enjoyed every word. Her judgement of people, at their worst and at their best, is so insightful, so warm and gentle, that the reader cannot help but fall in love with every character. This is a marvellous book.
SydneyH suggests Graham Greene’s The Ministry Of Fear could be the novelist’s finest work:
It has this great twisting plot, set in London during the Blitz. There’s a sense of intimate familiarity with the city during the time, with descriptions of the suburbs, streets, and even individual buildings which have been hit by bombs. If it doesn’t have the reputation of some of Greene’s other texts, I think it is because it is obviously a “Spy Thriller”, with little modification ... The Ministry of Fear doesn’t have many of the startling metaphors I like from Greene, but I think there is a good case for it being his best book.
Finally, nina1414 has been taking lessons from Martial’s Epigrams:
What fun. Brilliantly witty English translations by James Michie. The Latin is so compact that the English is often much longer. It’s fascinating to see how one or two Latin words unfolds into a long English sentence. Like a flower opening up. But such cynicism, such sarcasm, such profanity ... What I love about reading old books is - besides the idea of the author speaking directly to me - the idea that nothing is new. People have always been the same.
I tend to agree. Although I’m not sure how I’d feel about having dinner round at Martial’s house...
Interesting links about books and reading
- ““How do we negotiate the fact that we have a brilliant author who did some despicable things?” A report from the fifth annual David Foster Wallace conference.
- The three infamous missing chapters from the biography of Malcolm X are no longer missing.
- A brave attempt to explain Viz magazine to non-UK readers.
- “The reviews are 91% positive, although some of the reviewers appeared uncertain just what a book is.” Not everything about Amazon’s bookselling practice is entirely clear...
If you’re on Instagram, now you can share your reads with us on : simply tag your posts with the hashtag #GuardianBooks, and we’ll include a selection in this blog. Happy reading!
