Books Completed in '05
Submitted by Cosgrove on Thu, 12/29/2005 - 13:29
Tags:
- Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- White Jazz - James Ellroy
- Wise Blood - Flannery O'Connor
- The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
- The Violent Bear it Away - Flannery O'Connor
- Nadja - Andre Breton
- Blue of Noon - Georges Bataille
Author Comments:
So I actually found myself reading more often this past year. Here's what kept my interest, in order of finishing. (First time reads only.)
Did you ever read "Steps" by Kosinski?
The only thing I've ever read by Breton is "Earthlight," a collection of 'poems.' Is "Nadja" any good?
"Bird" is the first Kosinski I've read. I wasn't overly impressed with it until the last chapter or so, honestly -- something about Kosinski's overreliance on simile or the klutziness of his prose kept me from totally falling for it. I've heard "Steps" is good, though. Worth a look, I presume?
"Nadja", on the other hand, is damn good. Breton's prose is ecstatic.
I remember reading in this Salon book of the best modern writers and their most important works (I ... think it was Salon, not sure ... it was an orange book, heh) and David Foster Wallace listed his favorite books or something like that and he included "Steps" on there which made me curious (I'd read "Being There" but no more). There's no way a struggling no-name writer without connections could have ever gotten it published. It's a fragmented look at various sexual incidents, and it's perversely memorable. It's short - try it.