Sigh, another project. But it’s a good one!!! I have a long list below, but my goal is only to read 100 titles from it.  The project says you can only complete 50, so if I read at least that many I’ll consider it completed.

I’ll keep up with my progress at this page.

May 23, 1982 Fiction

This Week/Title/Author/Last Week/Weeks On List

1 THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC, by Robert Ludlum. (Random House, $15.95.) Through many exploits and hairbreadth escapes, Michael Havelock saves the world from nuclear extinction. 1/10

2 THE ONE TREE, by Stephen R. Donaldson. (Ballantine/Del Rey, $14.50.) Book Two in [...]]]> The New York Times Best Seller List

May 23, 1982
Fiction

This Week/Title/Author/Last Week/Weeks On List

1 THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC, by Robert Ludlum. (Random House, $15.95.)
Through many exploits and hairbreadth escapes, Michael Havelock saves
the world from nuclear extinction.
1/10

2 THE ONE TREE, by Stephen R. Donaldson. (Ballantine/Del Rey, $14.50.)
Book Two in the fantasy series, “The Second Chronicles of Thomas
Covenant.”
4/4

3 THE MAN FROM ST. PETERSBURG, by Ken Follett. (Morrow, $14.50.)
During a mission to Britain on the eve of World War I, a Russian terrorist
collides with his own romantic past.
5/2

4 CELEBRITY, by Thomas Thompson. (Doubleday, $17.95.) A crime
committed in their boyhood comes back to haunt three young men.
2/5

5 TWICE SHY, by Dick Francis. (Putnam’s, $13.95.) A greedy crew at work in
the world of horse-racing and computer programming.
3/6

6 NORTH AND SOUTH, by John Jakes. (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, $14.95.)
The friendship of two wealthy families – one in Pennsylvania, the other in
Carolina – is strained by the Civil War.
6/16

7 THY BROTHER’S WIFE, by Andrew M. Greeley. (Warner/Geis, $14.95.)
Two brothers, a priest and a senator, each in his own way love the same
woman.
7/6

8 DINNER AT THE HOMESICK RESTAURANT, by Anne Tyler. (Knopf,
$13.50.) Three children caught in the toils of their parents’ past.
–/3

9 PUBLIC SMILES, PRIVATE TEARS, by Helen Van Slyke with James
Elward. (Harper & Row, $13.50.) A woman has to choose between a career
and marriage.
14/5

10 SPRING MOON, by Bette Bao Lord. (Harper & Row, $14.95.) Tradition and
revolution in modern China seen through the life of an upper-class family.
8/26

11 THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE, by John Irving. (Dutton/Henry Robbins,
$15.50.) Life with an eccentric family.
13/36

Also available on Netflix streaming.

Here are some favorite clips:

See my other lists here: http://www.1morechapter.com/lists/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tait_Black_Memorial_Prize

Titles I’ve read are in bold

2010 – Tatjana Soli, The Lotus Eaters 2009 – AS Byatt, The Children’s Book 2008 – Sebastian Barry, The Secret [...]]]> 2011 shortlist:
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller
Solace by Belinda McKeon
You and I by Padgett Powell
There But For The by Ali Smith

See my other lists here: http://www.1morechapter.com/lists/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tait_Black_Memorial_Prize

Titles I’ve read are in bold

2010 – Tatjana Soli, The Lotus Eaters
2009 – AS Byatt, The Children’s Book
2008 – Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
2007 – Rosalind Belben, Our Horses in Egypt
2006 – Cormac McCarthy, The Road
2005 – Ian McEwan, Saturday
2004 – David Peace, GB84
2003 – Andrew O’Hagan, Personality
2002 – Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
2001 – Sid Smith, Something Like a House
2000 – Zadie Smith, White Teeth
1999 – Timothy Mo, Renegade, or Halo2
1998 – Beryl Bainbridge, Master Georgie
1997 – Andrew Miller, Ingenious Pain
1996 – Graham Swift, Last Orders, and Alice Thompson, Justine
1995 – Christopher Priest, The Prestige
1994 – Alan Hollinghurst, The Folding Star
1993 – Caryl Phillips, Crossing the River
1992 – Rose Tremain, Sacred Country
1991 – Iain Sinclair, Downriver
1990 – William Boyd, Brazzaville Beach
1989 – James Kelman, A Disaffection
1988 – Piers Paul Read, A Season in the West
1987 – George Mackay Brown, The Golden Bird: Two Orkney Stories
1986 – Jenny Joseph, Persephone
1985 – Robert Edric, Winter Garden
1984 – J. G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun, and Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
1983 – Jonathan Keates, Allegro Postillions
1982 – Bruce Chatwin, On The Black Hill
1981 – Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children, and Paul Theroux, The Mosquito Coast
1980 – J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians
1979 – William Golding, Darkness Visible
1978 – Maurice Gee, Plumb
1977 – John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy
1976 – John Banville, Doctor Copernicus
1975 – Brian Moore, The Great Victorian Collection
1974 – Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, or the Prince of Darkness
1973 – Iris Murdoch, The Black Prince
1972 – John Berger, G
1971 – Nadine Gordimer, A Guest of Honour
1970 – Lily Powell, The Bird of Paradise
1969 – Elizabeth Bowen, Eva Trout
1968 – Maggie Ross, The Gasteropod
1967 – Margaret Drabble, Jerusalem The Golden
1966 – Christine Brooke-Rose, Such, and Aidan Higgins, Langrishe, Go Down
1965 – Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate
1964 – Frank Tuohy, The Ice Saints
1963 – Gerda Charles, A Slanting Light
1962 – Ronald Hardy, Act of Destruction
1961 – Jennifer Dawson, The Ha-Ha
1960 – Rex Warner , Imperial Caesar
1959 – Morris West, The Devil’s Advocate
1958 – Angus Wilson, The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot
1957 – Anthony Powell, At Lady Molly’s
1956 – Rose Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizond
1955 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, Mother and Son
1954 – C. P. Snow, The New Men and The Masters
1953 – Margaret Kennedy, Troy Chimneys
1952 – Evelyn Waugh, Men at Arms
1951 – Chapman Mortimer, Father Goose
1950 – Robert Henriques, Through the Valley
1949 – Emma Smith, The Far Cry
1948 – Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter
1947 – L. P. Hartley, Eustace and Hilda
1946 – Oliver Onions, Poor Man’s Tapestry
1945 – L. A. G. Strong, Travellers
1944 – Forrest Reid, Young Tom
1943 – Mary Lavin, Tales from Bective Bridge
1942 – Arthur Waley, Translation of Monkey by Wu Cheng’en
1941 – Joyce Cary, A House of Children
1940 – Charles Morgan, The Voyage
1939 – Aldous Huxley After Many a Summer Dies the Swan
1938 – C. S. Forester, A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours
1937 – Neil M. Gunn, Highland River
1936 – Winifred Holtby, South Riding
1935 – L. H. Myers, The Root and the Flower
1934 – Robert Graves, I, Claudius and Claudius the God
1933 – A. G. Macdonell, England, Their England
1932 – Helen de Guerry Simpson, Boomerang
1931 – Kate O’Brien, Without My Cloak
1930 – E. H. Young, Miss Mole
1929 – J. B. Priestley, The Good Companions
1928 – Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man
1927 – Francis Brett Young, Portrait of Clare
1926 – Radclyffe Hall, Adam’s Breed
1925 – Liam O’Flaherty, The Informer
1924 – E. M. Forster, A Passage to India
1923 – Arnold Bennett, Riceyman Steps
1922 – David Garnett, Lady into Fox
1921 – Walter de la Mare, Memoirs of a Midget
1920 – D. H. Lawrence, The Lost Girl
1919 – Hugh Walpole, The Secret City

“Frost had built on the dead grass, and it skirled beneath his feet. If not for this sound he’d have thought himself struck deaf, owing to the magnitude of the surrounding silence. All the night’s noises had stopped. The whole valley seemed to reflect his shock. He heard only his footsteps and the wolf-girl’s [...]]]>

“Frost had built on the dead grass, and it skirled beneath his feet. If not for this sound he’d have thought himself struck deaf, owing to the magnitude of the surrounding silence. All the night’s noises had stopped. The whole valley seemed to reflect his shock. He heard only his footsteps and the wolf-girl’s panting complaint.”

I really wanted to read Train Dreams after it was embroiled in the “no Pulitzer” debate. Hey, it was only 117 pages, so I knew it wouldn’t take me long to read. It’s easily read in under two hours. As I write this, I’m still trying to decide between a 3.5 and a 4.5 star rating. I either loved it, or it was under my 4 star par. I guess I’ll just have to average the two and give it a 4.

Why am I waffling? Part of me loved the story, the writing, and the story of the life of Robert Grainier. Johnson definitely packs a big punch in such a small book. I admired how the author gave such a wide sweep of history of the American West and an individual’s life in so few pages. What I didn’t like was the mystical aspects of the book regarding the wolves. It was a little weird.

All in all, I would have been neutral on this title winning the Pulitzer. I’ve certainly read winners that I thought were much worse than this book. I’m definitely glad I read it, if anything to ponder why the Pulitzer Board chose not to pick this one.

2002, 117 pp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Foreign_Fiction_Prize

2012 Aharon Appelfeld, Blooms of Darkness translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green

2011 Santiago Roncagliolo, Red April (translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish)

2010 Philippe Claudel, Brodeck’s Report (translated by John Cullen from the French)

2009 Evelio Rosero, The Armies (translated by Anne McLean from the [...]]]> See all my lists here: http://www.1morechapter.com/lists/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Foreign_Fiction_Prize

2012
Aharon Appelfeld, Blooms of Darkness translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey M. Green

2011
Santiago Roncagliolo, Red April (translated by Edith Grossman from the Spanish)

2010
Philippe Claudel, Brodeck’s Report (translated by John Cullen from the French)

2009
Evelio Rosero, The Armies (translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish)

2008
Paul Verhaeghen, Omega Minor (translated by the author from the Dutch)

2007
José Eduardo Agualusa, The Book of Chameleons, (Portuguese, trans. Daniel Hahn)

2006 Prize
Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses (Norwegian; Anne Born; Harvill Secker)

2005
Frédéric Beigbeder, Windows on the World (French, trans. by Frank Wynne)

2004
Javier Cercas, Soldiers of Salamis (Spanish, Anne McLean)

2003
Per Olov Enquist, The Visit of the Royal Physician (Swedish, Tiina Nunnally)

2002
W.G. Sebald (posthumously) Austerlitz (German, Anthea Bell)

1995
Gert Hofmann, The Film Explainer (German, Michael Hofmann)

1994
Bao Ninh, The Sorrow of War (Vietnamese, Phanh Thanh Hao)

1990
Orhan Pamuk, The White Castle (Turkish, Victoria Holbrook )

Titles I’ve read are in bold. *Asterixed titles are those I’m most interested in reading.

2012

Banks, Russell. Lost Memory of Skin. Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending. deWitt, Patrick. The Sisters Brothers. Goldman, Francisco. Say Her Name. Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding. MacLeod, Alexander. Light Lifting. Obreht, [...]]]> See all my lists here: http://www.1morechapter.com/lists/

Titles I’ve read are in bold.
*Asterixed titles are those I’m most interested in reading.

2012

Banks, Russell. Lost Memory of Skin.
Barnes, Julian. The Sense of an Ending.
deWitt, Patrick. The Sisters Brothers.
Goldman, Francisco. Say Her Name.
Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding.
MacLeod, Alexander. Light Lifting.
Obreht, Téa. The Tiger’s Wife.
Ondaatje, Michael. The Cat’s Table.
Phillips, Arthur. The Tragedy of Arthur.
Russell, Karen. Swamplandia!
Torres, Justin. We the Animals.
Trevor, William. Selected Stories.

2011

Nashville Chrome by Rick Bass.
Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.
*A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.
Next by James Hynes.
The Surrendered by Chang Rae Lee.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes.
*The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel by David Mitchell.
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray.
*The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli.
The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel by Brady Udall.

2010

The Convalescent, by Jessica Anthony
*The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood
The Anthologist, by Nicholson Baker
*Await Your Reply, by Dan Chaon
Little Bee, by Chris Cleave
Spooner, by Pete Dexter
Tinkers, by Paul Harding
The Vagrants, by Yiyun Li
Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann
A Mercy, by Toni Morrison
*Generosity: An Enhancement, by Richard Powers
Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin

2009

*Alameddine, Rabih. The Hakawati
Aslam, Nadeem. The Wasted Vigil
Bausch, Richard. Peace
Benioff, David. City of Thieves
Erdrich, Louise. The Plague of Doves
Galchen, Rivka. Atmospheric Disturbances
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Unaccustomed Earth
Millhauser, Steven. Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories
Sheers, Owen. Resistance
Strout, Elizabeth. Olive Kitteridge
Talarigo, Jeff. The Ginseng Hunter

2008

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England, by Brock Clarke
Away, by Amy Bloom
Cheating at Canasta, by William Trevor
The Complete Stories, by David Malouf
Finn, by Jon Clinch
The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes, by Tess Uriza Holthe
Five Skies, by Ron Carlson
*The Ministry of Special Cases, by Nathan Englander
*Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones
On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan
Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson
The Pesthouse, by Jim Crace
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon

2007

Beautiful Dreamer, by Christopher Bigsby
*The Madonnas of Leningrad, by Debra Dean
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig
The Secret River, by Kate Grenville
The Attack, by Yasmina Khadra – translated by John Cullen
*The Girls, by Lori Lansens
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
The People’s Act of Love, by James Meek
*Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell
*Blind Willow Sleeping Woman, by Haruki Murakami
Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife, by Sam Savage

2006

Bates, Judy Fong. Midnight at the Dragon Café.
*Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
Gaitskill, Mary. Veronica.
Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide.
Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go.
Iweala, Uzodinma. Beasts of No Nation.
McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men.
McEwan, Ian. Saturday.
*Murakami, Haruki. Kafka on the Shore. Tr. by Philip Gabriel.
Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead.
Urrea, Luis Alberto. The Hummingbird’s Daughter.

2005

Barnes, Julian. The Lemon Table.
Christensen, Lars Saabye. The Half Brother.
De Bernières, Louis. Birds without Wings.
Dybek, Stuart. I Sailed with Magellan.
Khadra, Yasmina. The Swallows of Kabul.
Mda, Zakes. The Madonna of Excelsior.
Mitchell, David. Cloud Atlas.
*Munro, Alice. Runaway.
Niemi, Mikael. Popular Music from Vittula.
Roth, Philip. The Plot against America.
Wolff, Tobias. Old School.

2004

Ali, Monica. Brick Lane.
Antunes, Antonio Lobo. The Inquisitor’s Manual.
Boyd, William. Any Human Heart.
Carey, Edward. Alva and Irva: The Twins Who Saved a City.
Casares, Oscar. Brownsville: Stories.
Haddon, Mark. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner.
Jones, Edward P. The Known World.
Lethem, Jonathan. The Fortress of Solitude.
Morrison, Toni. Love.
O’Connor, Joseph. Star of the Sea.
Packer, ZZ. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.
Saramago, Jose. The Cave.

2003

Auster, Paul. The Book of Illusions.
Doerr, Anthony. The Shell Collector.
Labiner, Norah. Miniatures.
Lustig, Arnost. Lovely Green Eyes.
McEwan, Ian. Atonement.
*McGahern, John. By the Lake.
Merullo, Roland. In Revere, in Those Days.
*Mistry, Rohinton. Family Matters.
Oe, Kenzaburo. Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age!
Shteyngart, Gary. The Russian Debutante’s Handbook.
Slouka, Mark. God’s Fool.

2002

*Carey, Peter. True History of the Kelly Gang.
Chaon, Dan. Among the Missing.
Davis, Lydia. Samuel Johnson Is Indignant: Stories.
Everett, Percival. Erasure: A Novel.
Franzen, Jonathan. The Corrections: A Novel.
Gordimer, Nadine. The Pickup: A Novel.
MacLeod, Alistair. Island: The Complete Stories.
Olds, Bruce. Bucking the Tiger.
Sebald, W.G. Austerlitz.
Suri, Manil. The Death of Vishnu.
Winegardner, Mark. Crooked River Burning.

2001

Atwood, Margaret. The Blind Assassin.
Busch, Frederick. Don’t Tell Anyone.
Chabon, Michael. Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
Coetzee, J. M. Disgrace.
Crace, Jim. Being Dead.
DeWitt, Helen. Last Samurai.
Kalpakian, Laura. Delinquent Virgin.
King, Thomas. Truth and Bright Water.
Kneale, Matthew. English Passengers.
Nelson, Antonya. Living to Tell.
Ondaatje, Michael. Anil’s Ghost.
Paine, Tom. Scar Vegas.
Smith, Zadie. White Teeth.
Williams, Joy. The Quick and the Dead.

2000

Bainbridge, Beryl. Master Georgie.
Cunningham, Michael. The Hours.
Cusk, Rachel. The Country Life.
Doyle, Roddy. A Star Called Henry.
Dubus, Andre. House of Sand and Fog.
Englander, Nathan. For the Relief of Unbearable Urges.
Jin, Ha. Waiting.
Johnston, Wayne. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.
Just, Ward. A Dangerous Friend.
Lee, Chang-rae. A Gesture Life.
Letham, Jonathan. Motherless Brooklyn.
Reuss, Frederick. Henry of Atlantic City.

1999

Anderson, Scott. Triage.
Anthony, Patricia. Flanders.
*Barrett, Andrea. The Voyage of the Narwhal.
Borges, Jorge Luis. Collected Fictions. Tr. by Andrew Hurley.
Byers, Michael. The Coast of Good Intentions.
Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones.
Hornby, Nick. About a Boy.
McDermott, Alice. Charming Billy.
Moore, Lorrie. Birds of America.
Roth, Philip. I Married a Communist.
Vakil, Ardashir. Beach Boy.

1998

Alvarez, Julia. Yo!
Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace
Choy, Wayson. The Jade Peony
Deane, Seamus. Reading in the Dark
*Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain
Garcia, Cristina. Aguero Sisters
*Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Perota, Tom. The Wishbones
Smith, Lee. News of the Spirit
Stollman, Aryeh Lev. The Far Euphrates
Yamanaka, Lois-Ann. Blu’s Hanging

Everyone has one or two people in their family that are a little eccentric, right? Or maybe you’re the offbeat one that nobody understands? The Edith Beales, “Big Edie” and “Little Edie,” were the aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. This documentary film came to fruition when the Maysles (rhymes with [...]]]>

Amazon info

Everyone has one or two people in their family that are a little eccentric, right? Or maybe you’re the offbeat one that nobody understands? The Edith Beales, “Big Edie” and “Little Edie,” were the aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. This documentary film came to fruition when the Maysles (rhymes with hazel) brothers of Gimme Shelter fame started out filming Jackie’s sister Lee for a glimpse of Jackie’s childhood home and surroundings. After they met the Beales,’ the brothers ditched that effort in favor of featuring Big and Little Edie. It was named Grey Gardens after the name of the Beales’ estate.

Around this time, the Village of East Hampton had been set on evicting the pair because the neighbors were complaining of the condition of the house and the smell of cats emanating from it on a breezy day. They had also found numerous health violations during a raid. Basically, the women were living in absolute squalor. But how did they get that way?

Sequel on Amazon

Big Edie was the sister of  Jackie’s O’s father, John “Black Jack” Bouvier. She also was of course married at one time to Little Edie’s father, Phelan Beale. In addition to Little Edie, they also had two younger sons. Well, it does seem that all Big Edie wanted to do was sing and entertain people. For that, she was divorced and Phelan remarried. She didn’t receive much from him in the divorce and then she was also cut out of her father’s will when she showed up at one of her son’s weddings dressed as an opera singer. To top off the insult, any money the pair had was to be doled out by Big Edie’s sons and brother through a trust. It seems as though she was thwarted at every turn, although that of course is only one side of the story.

In reality, she could have sold the house early on to get money, but she refused. I think partly the reason was because the relatives wanted to get their hands on it for cheap. I really do. She also depended on Little Evie too much to where it became a dysfunctional, codependent relationship. Whether Little Edie really was forced by her mother to stay with her or she just used that as an excuse to stay people will never know. She had lost her hair, including her eyebrows when she was younger. It was rumored she even set it on fire. Some say she was schizophrenic, but I absolutely do not think this was the case. You should hear her rave on about politics, religion, and men. She was very intelligent even though she was extremely flighty and loved to dance and perform all the time. She has also become a bit of a fashion icon with her clothing getups. She didn’t have any money to buy new clothes, but she surely made the outfits (and curtains and sheets!) that she did wear interesting and fashionable.

HBO version on Amazon

Besides the cool outfits, the documentary shows the pair arguing, singing, dancing, and competing for camera time, while extolling the virtues of the other. It also shows their squalid conditions, and it was fairly disgusting. I’ve seen the original documentary at least five times, the sequel twice, and the HBO version starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore once. All are fantastic films. I like the originals the best, but the HBO film is great for filling in the times pre-documentary.

Are these two women to be admired for thumbing their noses at society and doing things their way, or were they just lazy, slovenly people who couldn’t get on in the real world? You decide.

Quotes:

“You know, they can get you in East Hampton for wearing red shoes on a Thursday.”

“But you see in dealing with me, the relatives didn’t know that they were dealing with a staunch character and I tell you if there’s anything worse than dealing with a staunch woman… S-T-A-U-N-C-H. There’s nothing worse, I’m telling you. They don’t weaken, no matter what. ”

“If you can’t get a man to propose to you, you might as well be dead.”

“Of course, I’m mad about animals, but raccoons and cats become a little bit boring. I mean, for too long a time.”

“It’s very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present. You know what I mean? It’s awfully difficult.”

“We better check on mother and the cats. She’s a lot of fun, I hope she doesn’t die. I hate to spend another winter here though. Oh God, another winter.”

“Two women can’t live together for twenty years without some jealousy. Not that my voice is better than Mother’s, but she can’t dance.”

Pics (first 4 are Little Edie, last two are Big Edie):

*********************************************************************************

Video:

Edie explaining one of her outfits:

Montage of Edie’s outfits:

Video of HBO Grey Gardens trailer:

Have you ever heard of the “Up” documentaries? 7 Up, 14 Up, etc. all the way up to 49 UP (and the soon to be released 56 Up)? In 1964, a group of British schoolchildren were brought together and featured in a documentary. They were 7 years old. Asked about their home [...]]]>

Amazon info

Have you ever heard of the “Up” documentaries? 7 Up, 14 Up, etc. all the way up to 49 UP (and the soon to be released 56 Up)? In 1964, a group of British schoolchildren were brought together and featured in a documentary. They were 7 years old. Asked about their home life and their aspirations, these 14 children from different backgrounds were featured and then followed up on every 7 years up to the present day. The 56 Up film will be shown in the UK on May 14, 21, and 28. And one of the exciting things I’ve learned is that 13 of the 14 are participating, something that hasn’t happened since 21 Up.

These films are absolutely extraordinary. Some children’s lives have ended up just as they predicted they would when asked at only 7 years old! Others have been in a decidedly positive direction, while some have struggled. I watched all these films over a week period earlier this year, and I cannot wait until I see the update on their lives. I don’t know when we’ll be able to see it in the U.S, and I’m so jealous of those of you in the U.K. that can see 56 Up next week. Maybe they’ll be leaked online, but I will anxiously await its release otherwise.

Directed by Michael Apted (Coal Miner’s Daughter, Gorillas in the Mist, Nell, Voyage of the Dawn Treader), it is also one of Roger Ebert’s top 10 films of all time.

I highly encourage you to view this wonderful series.

Available on Netflix streaming or from Amazon.

Here’s a small clip of 49 Up:

The book is basically a retelling of The Iliad. Admittedly, I’ve never read the full version of the tale, but I have read several other retellings as my kids were nuts [...]]]>
Miller’s book has been getting a lot of nice reviews from many media outlets and blogging companions. I’m not as enthusiastic as most.

The book is basically a retelling of The Iliad. Admittedly, I’ve never read the full version of the tale, but I have read several other retellings as my kids were nuts about mythology when they were growing up and we would read or listen to them together. If you’re familiar with the story, there isn’t much new here except for one thing, and that is the homosexual relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. The whole tale is told from that angle. Whereas The Iliad never expressly states this nature about their relationship, some scholars have inferred from their reading that this was so. However, others aren’t convinced; it is debated among scholarly circles today whether this was the case or they were just ‘bosom buddies.’ In addition, in The Iliad, Patroclus is clearly older than Achilles and not the same age, so there were some liberties taken there as well. Also, I didn’t find the writing to be that stellar. My thoughts echo the New York Times review almost exactly.

If this book hadn’t been shortlisted for the Orange Prize, I probably wouldn’t have read it. And the reason is that I’ve read so many retellings in the past it is high time I read the real thing. I’ve been going over different translations and I think I’m going to go with the Alexander Pope version. While not as literal as some of the more modern translations, it looks to be more in the spirit of Homer’s original because it rhymes. The Iliad and The Odyssey were orally passed down, and looking at Pope’s translation, it would seem the easiest one to memorize if one had to.

I do thank Madeline Miller for giving me the jump start to actually want to read the real tales themselves. For that I’m grateful.

2012, 369 pp.

FTC Disclosure: I obtained this book through my local public library.

2012 shortlist:

John Ashbery for Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud Margaret Jull Costa for Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga Howard Curtis for How I Lost the War by Filippo Bologna Rosalind Harvey for Down [...]]]> Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize is an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language.

2012 shortlist:

John Ashbery for Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud
Margaret Jull Costa for Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga
Howard Curtis for How I Lost the War by Filippo Bologna
Rosalind Harvey for Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos
Judith Landry for New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani
Martin McLaughlin for Into the War by Italo Calvino

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford-Weidenfeld_Translation_Prize

2011: Margaret Jull Costa for his translation of Jose Saramago’s The Elephant’s Journey
2010: Jamie McKendrick for his translation of Valerio Magrelli’s The Embrace: Selected Poems
2009: Anthea Bell for her translation of Saša Stanišic’s How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone
2008: Margaret Jull Costa for her translation of Eça de Queiroz’s The Maias
2007: Michael Hofmann for his translation of Durs Grunbein’s Ashes for Breakfast: Selected Poems
2006: Len Rix for his translation of Magda Szabó’s The Door
2005: Denis Jackson for his translation of Theodor Storm’s Paul the Puppeteer
2004: Michael Hofmann for his translation of Ernst Junger’s Storm of Steel
2003: Ciaran Carson for his translation of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno
2002: Patrick Thursfield and Katalin Banffy-Jelen for Miklos Banffy’s They Were Divided
2001: Edwin Morgan for his translation of Phèdre by Jean Racine
2000: Margaret Jull Costa for the translation of Jose Saramago’s All the Names
1999: Jonathan Galassi for his translation of Eugenio Montale’s Collected Poems

“I thought it would be a different life, but sometimes it is like the same life in a dream: a different man coming in the door, a different man hanging his coat on the hook. He comes home late, he goes out to the gym, he gets stuck on the internet: we don’t spend [...]]]>

“I thought it would be a different life, but sometimes it is like the same life in a dream: a different man coming in the door, a different man hanging his coat on the hook. He comes home late, he goes out to the gym, he gets stuck on the internet: we don’t spend our evenings in restaurants, or dine by candlelight anymore, we don’t even eat together, most of the time. I don’t know what I expected. ” –p. 202

Anne Enright is an excellent writer. Do I particularly care for her stories or characters? No, I don’t. But I do recognize that she somehow is able to get into the heads of her protagonists in a way few authors are able to do. This is my second title that I’ve read by her, the first being her Booker winning The Gathering. I was taken completely by surprise by the raw emotion in that book. And though bleak and depressing, the writing was superb.

I found the writing to be superb in this novel as well, and this one definitely has an easier subject matter. Still a bit dark, but not total midnight like The Gathering. The book is primarily about adultery and the emotional and financial costs involved, but it is also about sibling and parent-child relationships.

The book was shortlisted for the Orange Prize this year, and so far I’ve read two of the contenders, this one and Foreign Bodies. I would put the latter slightly above this one, even though I’ve rated them both a 4. Although it seems that many readers haven’t particularly liked either book, I wouldn’t be surprised (or disappointed) if either of them won.

2011, 259 pp.

FTC Disclosure: I obtained this book from my local public library.

Hello, saloners and fellow readers!

I’m list obsessed. I now have a lists page: http://www.1morechapter.com/lists that I will be updating with all kinds of goodies in the future. It’s a tab at the top so it should be easy to find.

This week I managed to get two Orange Prize shortlist titles read, [...]]]>

Hello, saloners and fellow readers!

I’m list obsessed. I now have a lists page: http://www.1morechapter.com/lists that I will be updating with all kinds of goodies in the future. It’s a tab at the top so it should be easy to find.

This week I managed to get two Orange Prize shortlist titles read, The Forgotten Waltz and Foreign Bodies. I enjoyed them both, and they both received 4 stars. Even more surprising than getting them read is that I actually got reviews up as well. I’m going to try to read all the shortlist titles this year. I read 5 of 6 titles for last year’s Booker Prize and it was a fun endeavor so I thought I’d try it for the Orange. The one title I did not read for the Booker (because I couldn’t get it in the U.S.) was Half Blood Blues. I’ll now get my chance as it is one of the Orange shortlist titles as well. I’m really looking forward to reading it.

As for the other 3 shortlist titles, I’m currently reading The Song of Achilles and am half way through. Many people seem to love this one but so far for me it’s just okay. I’m also listening to State of Wonder in the car. I loved Patchett’s Bel Canto so I’m hoping to love this one as well. I had to order Painter of Silence from the Book Depository since it’s not in the U.S. yet. It will definitely be fun to compare all six works. The winner will be announced May 30.

I’m also reading I’m a Stranger Here Myself for a real-life book club. I thought I wasn’t going to like it but Bill Bryson can be very funny. I’ve found myself laughing out loud several times. Another one upcoming is The City & The City by China Mieville for my book club with my sister. I’ve been wanting to read that one for awhile.

Have a great week!

Cynthia Ozick is an author I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. So when Foreign Bodies was announced as part of the Orange shortlist, I knew it was time. I wasn’t disappointed.

Foreign Bodies has the same basic plotline of The Ambassadors by Henry James. I love James, but I’ve [...]]]>

Amazon info

Cynthia Ozick is an author I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. So when Foreign Bodies was announced as part of the Orange shortlist, I knew it was time. I wasn’t disappointed.

Foreign Bodies has the same basic plotline of The Ambassadors by Henry James. I love James, but I’ve never read The Ambassadors so I just took Ozick’s book on its own.  Bea Nightingale is an older divorced school teacher who, at the beginning of the novel, is in Paris on vacation. One of the inconveniences of her trip is that she has been assigned by her brother to locate, talk sense into, and bring home, her nephew, who is also in Paris and has been there way too long according to her brother.

I won’t get into the other aspects of the plot because it would be a bit too spoilerish, but needless to say, I really enjoyed this novel. I found the relationship between Bea and every other individual in the novel to be fascinating. Whether she’s dealing with her brother’s condescension or her ex-husband’s fame, or her nephew and niece’s struggle for independence, she is always just herself. In fact, I wouldn’t mind knowing a Bea Nightingale in real life.

I couldn’t quite bring myself to give the book 4.5 stars, but if I did quarter ratings it would be 4.25.

Recommended especially for Orange Prize enthusiasts.

2010, 255 pp.

FTC Disclosure: I obtained the book from my local public library.

(I’ve read the books in bold)

2012: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers 2011: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes 2010: The City and the City by China Miéville 2009: Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod 2008: Black Man by Richard Morgan 2007: Nova Swing by M. John Harrison 2006: Air by [...]]]> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C_Clarke_Award

(I’ve read the books in bold)

2012: The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
2011: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
2010: The City and the City by China Miéville
2009: Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
2008: Black Man by Richard Morgan
2007: Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
2006: Air by Geoff Ryman
2005: Iron Council by China Miéville
2004: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
2003: The Separation by Christopher Priest
2002: Bold as Love by Gwyneth Jones
2001: Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
2000: Distraction by Bruce Sterling
1999: Dreaming in Smoke by Tricia Sullivan
1998: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
1997: The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh
1996: Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley
1995: Fools by Pat Cadigan
1994: Vurt by Jeff Noon
1993: Body of Glass by Marge Piercy (published as He, She and It in the U.S.)
1992: Synners by Pat Cadigan
1991: Take Back Plenty by Colin Greenland
1990: The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman
1989: Unquenchable Fire by Rachel Pollack
1988: Drowning Towers by George Turner
1987: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

2012 – Teju Cole for Open City 2011 – Brando Skyhorse for The Madonnas of Echo Park 2010 – Brigid Pasulka for A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True 2009 – Michael Dahlie for A Gentleman’s Guide To Graceful Living 2008 – Joshua Ferris for Then We Came to the End 2007 – [...]]]> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEN/Hemingway_Award

2012 – Teju Cole for Open City
2011 – Brando Skyhorse for The Madonnas of Echo Park
2010 – Brigid Pasulka for A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
2009 – Michael Dahlie for A Gentleman’s Guide To Graceful Living
2008 – Joshua Ferris for Then We Came to the End
2007 – Ben Fountain for Brief Encounters With Che Guevara
2006 – Yiyun Li for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
2005 – Chris Abani for Graceland
2004 – Jennifer Haigh for Mrs. Kimble
2003 – Gabriel Brownstein for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt. 3W
2002 – Justin Cronin for Mary and O’Neil
2001 – Akhil Sharma for An Obedient Father
2000 – Jhumpa Lahiri for Interpreter of Maladies
1999 – Rosina Lippi for Homestead
1998 – Charlotte Bacon for A Private State
1997 – Ha Jin for Ocean of Words
1996 – Chang-Rae Lee for Native Speaker
1995 – Susan Power for The Grass Dancer
1994 – Dagoberto Gilb for The Magic of Blood
1993 – Edward P. Jones for Lost in the City
1992 – Louis Begley for Wartime Lies
1991 – Bernard Cooper for Maps to Anywhere
1990 – Mark Richard for The Ice at the Bottom of the World
1989 – Jane Hamilton for The Book of Ruth
1988 – Lawrence Thornton for Imagining Argentina
1987 – Mary Ward Brown for Tongues of Flame
1986 – Alan V. Hewar for Lady’s Time
1985 – Josephine Humphreys for Dreams of Sleep
1984 – Joan Chase for During the Reign of the Queen of Sheba
1983 – Bobbie Ann Mason for Shiloh and Other Stories
1982 – Marilynne Robinson for Housekeeping
1981 – Joan Silber for Household Words
1980 – Alan Saperstein for Mom Kills Kids and Self
1979 – Reuben Bercovitch for Hasen
1978 – Darcy O’Brien for A Way of Life, Like Any Other
1977 – Renata Adler for Speedboat
1976 – Loyd Little for Parthian Shot