Ah, that's the one I deliberated most over including. If I'd written this application in a couple of weeks' time I might have chosen Pale Fire, or Lolita, or The Gift.
Right now, however, I'm reading Ada or Ardor, and I'm finding most of it to be self-indulgent drivel. There are great moments, great phrases (what's Nabokov good at, if not turn of phrase?), but as a book by Nabokov, it's a disappointment. It's as if he took some of the interesting stylistic features of his other books and inflated them to grotesque proportions.
I know I will eventually come back to Pale Fire (I would normally have said that Pale Fire is my favourite)... but recently I reread Pnin and loved it, I couldn't help thinking Aha, yes, this is why I read Nabokov, for humour and beauty and tomfoolery with words. I found it refreshing to empathise with one of Nabokov's characters without feeling guilty about it, and I found the smattering of actualism much more fun to read than the pages and pages of it there is in Lo and Ada
( ... )
The first Wodehouse story I read was "Fate" in The Drones Omnibus, and I remember being very confused by "Sugar Daddies being Discovered In Love Nest as Blizzard Grips City". It brought all sorts of strange and wonderful images to mind (I was seven). That's why I chose the Drones, because it was my first Wodehouse... Otherwise I think I might have plumped for Jeeves in the OffingAnyway, I loved those stories, even though I couldn't possibly have appreciated them fully, then. I've reread them many times over the years, as well as most of the Jeeves stories, and every time I enjoy them more. I like the snappy dialogue, the unflattering descriptions of people like Oofy Prosser and Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bertie's waffling, witty narration... Wodehouse is the only writer I have come across so far who can get away with using the same stock situations and character traits again and again. In fact, I've come to enjoy knowing more or less what to expect in terms of basic plot when I pick up a new Wodehouse (and there are lots, which is
( ... )
I've never really cared for the Jeeves books, but I absolutely adore Psmith--he is one of the most clever and fascinating characters I know; a sort of Wodehousian Mr Ripley, in a way. And I have to admit I strive to emulate him, when I find myself in circumstances that seem to warrant it.
I've read one of the Psmith books... I don't remember the title, but I remember not enjoying it. Perhaps I chanced on a stinker. Could you recommend one to start with?
Oh definitely (have you read any of the other Claudine stuff? I have them all but haven't committed to reading them yet--I hear the last one is rad though)
I think I've read all the Claudine novels... Claudine at School, in Paris, Married, Claudine and Annie, yes? If there are more, a trip to the library is in order!
I love all of them to bits (quite literally, as I tend to shamelessly "fondle" paperbacks). My choice of Claudine at School was almost arbitrary - I would have to read them all again in succession to decide properly, and maybe even then I wouldn't be able to.
Re: I just ate some really good honey ice cream, so a food related challenge.writtererFebruary 3 2009, 05:32:26 UTC
Ishmael and Queequeg scoffing chowder at the Spouter Inn, in Moby-Dick.
Gilberte's afternoon teas in In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.
Kazuko going to find Mr. Uehara in the Chidori, with all his drunken friends shouting "Guillotine, guillotine, shooshooshoo," in The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai.
Miss Brodie fattening up poor unloved Mr. Lowther in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
"Mr. Mybug" trying to engage Flora in conversation over sugared oranges in Cold Comfort Farm.
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Right now, however, I'm reading Ada or Ardor, and I'm finding most of it to be self-indulgent drivel. There are great moments, great phrases (what's Nabokov good at, if not turn of phrase?), but as a book by Nabokov, it's a disappointment. It's as if he took some of the interesting stylistic features of his other books and inflated them to grotesque proportions.
I know I will eventually come back to Pale Fire (I would normally have said that Pale Fire is my favourite)... but recently I reread Pnin and loved it, I couldn't help thinking Aha, yes, this is why I read Nabokov, for humour and beauty and tomfoolery with words. I found it refreshing to empathise with one of Nabokov's characters without feeling guilty about it, and I found the smattering of actualism much more fun to read than the pages and pages of it there is in Lo and Ada ( ... )
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I love all of them to bits (quite literally, as I tend to shamelessly "fondle" paperbacks). My choice of Claudine at School was almost arbitrary - I would have to read them all again in succession to decide properly, and maybe even then I wouldn't be able to.
Reply
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Gilberte's afternoon teas in In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.
Kazuko going to find Mr. Uehara in the Chidori, with all his drunken friends shouting "Guillotine, guillotine, shooshooshoo," in The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai.
Miss Brodie fattening up poor unloved Mr. Lowther in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
"Mr. Mybug" trying to engage Flora in conversation over sugared oranges in Cold Comfort Farm.
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