Oh totally seconding The Blind Assasin. What a fantastic book. Other from the top of my head that stayed with me for a while: pretty much everything by Alice Hoffman, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (currently re-reading). When God was a rabbit. Julia Glass's The Three Junes and the sequel. But there's more for sure!
Excellent! I've been meaning to read more Atwood, so I will definitely try The Blind Assassin. And I haven't read any of the others you mention, so I'll check them out!
Oh my gosh! This is a weird one, but it falls in there with the emotion, the love, the fiction. VURT by Jeff Noon is a "cyberpunk" novel that is full of fantasy but not the dragon stuff...DEFINITELY dark elements and unlike anything you'll ever read again. It's practically a secret language as you read it. Lots of substance abuse as the plot revolves around feathers that are programmed with a collective Matrix that people tickle their throats with and escape to.
My recommendations for you: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (if you haven't already read it) anything by Ali Smith Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins (full disclosure, this is one of my friends--but I mean it: INCREDIBLE.) Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock (also The Devil All the Time, but only if you're REALLY okay with dark)
I've read Middlesex (and I liked it, although I didn't end up totally falling in love with it), and I will definitely check out the others on your list. Thanks!
Christa Wolf. German, East-German, to be exact, one of the leading names in German literature (was unfortunately, she died last year), but not very well known outside, for reason which I don't fully understand.
Her books are - hard to read, beautiful, haunting, true. I hardly ever get the feeling of someone writing their very soul out. I do so with Wolf. It's like somebody letting light into all the dark corners we are always afraid to look into. At the same time, there is great mastery to how she builds the books: the scaffolding of the story, which is sometimes not held together by a plot, but by something else: associations, feelings, characters and their relationships.
I don't think there is a book of fiction of hers which did not wholeheartedly get five stars from me, even if those are books which I would not have picked up if they were not by her. My favourites are perhaps Medea and Kassandra - both re-imaging of the reality behind the Greek myths, the last one accompanied by five essays on the writing process. Her other
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Authors: Naguib Mahfouz (brilliant writing and plot construction)
Antigonick - Anne Carson (an interesting re-telling/interpretation of Antigone) Blackout and All Clear - Connie Willis (science fiction+historical fiction, won three of the biggest SF awards) Small Island - Andrea Levy (lots of strong women, rings generally true, great characters) Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell (gorgeous writing and understanding of personal relations) Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (one of my favorite classics, for the writing and characters) The Secret River - Kate Grenville
Oh, thank you! You mentioned Mahfouz in your other rec, too :D I'm definitely going to pick up his "Children of the Alley", which seems fascinating both in its subject and reception history
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I managed to totally space on the username of who I was replying to, so I didn't realize it was you!
Reading Children of the Alley was incredibly interesting for me. I found it incredibly hard to believe that anyone of ANY religion could find it offensive though.
For what it's worth, Most of Connie Willis' books didn't sound that interesting to me. What I think she gets most right in Blackout and All Clear is the true difficulty in understanding personal reactions to large historical events, plus I think her pacing and the balance of what she makes obvious vs what she keeps hidden (particularly in the second book) are just really perfect.
With the others (with the non-classics that is), my first reaction to them wasn't that they were historical fiction. They definitely fit that label, but the people and the relationships are definitely the main focus and the history is just the backdrop. That's why I picked out those particular ones, at least.
Interesting... I've only read Murakami's story collection After the Quake, and that was a bit love-it-or-hate-it for me even within the same collection. I've been meaning to read his novels, though--thanks!
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The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller
The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith
Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks
The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
Loitering With Intent - Peter O'Toole
It would take aaages to write why I like all these/why I think they'd match your tastes but I'm happy to discuss any that might strike your fancy!
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Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (if you haven't already read it)
anything by Ali Smith
Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins (full disclosure, this is one of my friends--but I mean it: INCREDIBLE.)
Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock (also The Devil All the Time, but only if you're REALLY okay with dark)
Reply
I've read Middlesex (and I liked it, although I didn't end up totally falling in love with it), and I will definitely check out the others on your list. Thanks!
Reply
Her books are - hard to read, beautiful, haunting, true. I hardly ever get the feeling of someone writing their very soul out. I do so with Wolf. It's like somebody letting light into all the dark corners we are always afraid to look into. At the same time, there is great mastery to how she builds the books: the scaffolding of the story, which is sometimes not held together by a plot, but by something else: associations, feelings, characters and their relationships.
I don't think there is a book of fiction of hers which did not wholeheartedly get five stars from me, even if those are books which I would not have picked up if they were not by her. My favourites are perhaps Medea and Kassandra - both re-imaging of the reality behind the Greek myths, the last one accompanied by five essays on the writing process. Her other ( ... )
Reply
Naguib Mahfouz (brilliant writing and plot construction)
Antigonick - Anne Carson (an interesting re-telling/interpretation of Antigone)
Blackout and All Clear - Connie Willis (science fiction+historical fiction, won three of the biggest SF awards)
Small Island - Andrea Levy (lots of strong women, rings generally true, great characters)
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell (gorgeous writing and understanding of personal relations)
Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (one of my favorite classics, for the writing and characters)
The Secret River - Kate Grenville
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Reading Children of the Alley was incredibly interesting for me. I found it incredibly hard to believe that anyone of ANY religion could find it offensive though.
For what it's worth, Most of Connie Willis' books didn't sound that interesting to me. What I think she gets most right in Blackout and All Clear is the true difficulty in understanding personal reactions to large historical events, plus I think her pacing and the balance of what she makes obvious vs what she keeps hidden (particularly in the second book) are just really perfect.
With the others (with the non-classics that is), my first reaction to them wasn't that they were historical fiction. They definitely fit that label, but the people and the relationships are definitely the main focus and the history is just the backdrop. That's why I picked out those particular ones, at least.
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Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Dance Dance Dance are my favorites. :)
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