#783) Junky, William Burroughs- Not an uplifting book but an absolutely look at Burrough’s junkie years and a snapshot of the junky lifestyle. Burrough’s writing is direct yet poetic and insightful, unapologetic in owning his indulgences. Depressing how society treated addiction as a crime (and kind of still does), but a valuable humanizing look at ( Read more... )

#782) GOOD MORNING MIDNIGHT, JEAN RHYS- A pretty depressing book about a woman who finds herself in Paris, heart broken and broken down for a number of reasons, on a course to purposefully drink herself to death. Well written and organized, compelling, engaging, but kind of depressing as fuck.

MUST I HAVE READ THIS BOOM BEFORE I DIED: no….but it is ( Read more... )

#781) THE MOON AND THE BONFIRES, Cesare Pavese- Italian orphan returns from California to visit the small town he was raised in, reminiscing about his former life growing up in the time of rising fascism. Engaging read but not essential.
Must I Have Read This Book Before I Died: No
781 down, 220 to go

#779) The Driver’s Seat, Muriel Spark- One of the most unsettling books I have ever read. A short sharp shock of goth literature….

MUST I HAVE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE I DIED: Yes
779 down, 222 to go

#780) The Drowned and the Saved, Primo Levi- Another discussion of the Holocaust and it’s effects on survivors by a survivor himself. Another must read.

( Read more... )

#775) THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, Nathaniel Hawthorne- Man, is early American literature dry. I pretty uneventful but slightly engaging novel that gets really good in the last third....but not good enough to make it a recommendation...unless you are really into dry American literature. MUST I HAVE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE I DIED: No 775 down, 225 ( Read more... )

WAY BEHIND....foolishly joined two book podcats and re-reading books and following behind and not posting and not stuck with books on the list that are.....LONG!

#772) THE DISCOVERY OF HEAVEN, Harry Mulisch- Epic novel about all things philosophical- name a concept and it is probably addressed at some point in here. Has a Rushdie edge in that ( Read more... )

#771) THE EMIGRANTS, W. G. Sebald- Sebald tells the stories of four emigrants in his typical style in which any detail is an excuse to go off on a historical or biographical tangent. As always, complete with pictures. The people are fascinating- all emigrants- but it is Sebald writing that makes this such an engrossing read.

MUST I HAVE READ THIS ( Read more... )

#770) THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA, Thomas Hardy- This is my least favorite Hardy book, a self-professed romantic comedy concerning a successful female poetress and performer who must hide from society the fact that her father is a butler and that her family is lower class. To be honest, I found Hardy's sublime sense of humor (mostly conveyed through his ( Read more... )

#769) THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Henry James- Man did I love this book, much to my surprise. Why? Because the lady herself, the title character, an American with a free spirit visiting England and confronting a different set of societal mores, is one of the most thoroughly fleshed out and satisfyingly developed characters I have encountered in a long ( Read more... )

#768) HUNGER, Knut Hamsun- A story of a writer struggling to survive, working from job to job, hoping to find enough work to eat, let alone rent a room or enjoy luxuries. Unfortunately, the man has a little too much pride at times and refuses help, only to suffer from the hunger and then act out in foolish and uncivil ways. A depressing book about ( Read more... )