Indeed. ARTURO PEREZ-REVERTE has a way with words. I Copped DUMAS a while ago. Studied it more for STYLE than READING ENJOYMENT. A little too BAROQUE for me. Nevertheless, I had Got interested in his other books when I started watching QUEEN OF THE SOUTH on Netflix (a book more my Speed). I like how he gets into a Story, tho.
U mite enjoy ROBERTO SAVIANO, too, then. He wrote ZERO ZERO ZERO (also was on Netflix). But his other books including GOMORRAH are good. Kinda HISTORICAL FICTION....
It’s been a while since I read books off the standard list of old literary classics, but most of them are deserving of their praise. Even if they are written in an older style, they are not only well worth reading, but surprisingly enjoyable, memorable, and moving. I’ve got a sudden desire to reread Sister Carrie and Manhattan Transfer.
Thanks for the recommendations! One of my favorites : "An instance of the fingerpost" from Iain Pears. The same renaissance science story told by 3 different characters. Brilliant !
Another vote for Club Dumas here. It was the (thinly used) source for Polanski’s The Ninth Gate which I have a fondness for even though it’s a schlocky film and, you know, Polanski.
I loved The Club Dumas in part because I had read The Three Musketeers dozens of times since childhood. As an adult, I read the entire series which Penguin (or Oxford>) has in five fat paperbacks. I still remember the scene of trying to save Charles the I from beheading.... Wonderful, creepy scene.
Also loved The Historian and other unusual titles like The Crimson Petal and the White, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, The Essex Serpent, each book sui generis.
I don't need one since I've been a very catholic reader from elementary school on, hunting for the unusual across genres. I do, however, often read the same book as my spouse if it's biography or history and am re-reading a lot of History these days, am in the middle of A Distant Mirror again and will follow it by Dan Jones's history of the Middle Ages, Thrones and Powers. In the mystery Johan Theorin--deciding soon which book to go back to.
I read all three volumes of his Churchill biography last summer. Marvelous. We have a shelf of Churchill books and many shelves of WWI and WWII history and a whole book case of Medieval, Renaissance, Balkan, Russian, British....
Indeed. ARTURO PEREZ-REVERTE has a way with words. I Copped DUMAS a while ago. Studied it more for STYLE than READING ENJOYMENT. A little too BAROQUE for me. Nevertheless, I had Got interested in his other books when I started watching QUEEN OF THE SOUTH on Netflix (a book more my Speed). I like how he gets into a Story, tho.
U mite enjoy ROBERTO SAVIANO, too, then. He wrote ZERO ZERO ZERO (also was on Netflix). But his other books including GOMORRAH are good. Kinda HISTORICAL FICTION....
Hey, thanks for the tip, Duvay!
Great post, Martine. I do also think it's important to read widely, and to read whatever most interests you! Some of these titles sound intriguing!
Not completely wacky. The Historian is a fantastic book, and I'm not the only one who loves Club Dumas!
It’s been a while since I read books off the standard list of old literary classics, but most of them are deserving of their praise. Even if they are written in an older style, they are not only well worth reading, but surprisingly enjoyable, memorable, and moving. I’ve got a sudden desire to reread Sister Carrie and Manhattan Transfer.
Fascinating dive into artsy writing! I’d never heard of most if not all of those works. Thanks for the master class.
I've accumulated some strange reading matter over the years. I thought I would share, knowing it's not everybody's cup of tea.
👍
Thanks for the recommendations! One of my favorites : "An instance of the fingerpost" from Iain Pears. The same renaissance science story told by 3 different characters. Brilliant !
I need to add that to my list.
I've had Sargossa on my radar for a long time. Maybe it's time soon...
And I've wanted to reread it for quite a while now... I keep being distracted!
Club Dumas has EVERYTHING!! Lights, psychos, Furbies, screaming babies in Mozart wigs, sunburned drifters with soap sud beards?
I knew you would say that!
"My stories..., tend to be linear. Beginning, middle, end... In short stories, I’m more adventurous." What's the editor want? That's how I decide : )
That's funny... beyond the theme, I rarely think about the editors tastes, because most of the time, I have no idea!
Good point and I'm being funny or trying to. Producing a superior product has to win the day. If it doesn't, what else can ya do?
Another vote for Club Dumas here. It was the (thinly used) source for Polanski’s The Ninth Gate which I have a fondness for even though it’s a schlocky film and, you know, Polanski.
Yes, a dumb film... In a way I'm glad it didn't try to adapt the book.
I loved The Club Dumas in part because I had read The Three Musketeers dozens of times since childhood. As an adult, I read the entire series which Penguin (or Oxford>) has in five fat paperbacks. I still remember the scene of trying to save Charles the I from beheading.... Wonderful, creepy scene.
Also loved The Historian and other unusual titles like The Crimson Petal and the White, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, The Essex Serpent, each book sui generis.
Oh yes, the blood dripping through the planks of the scaffold...
You have just overloaded my TBR stack. Thank you, sincerely.
Ahahah! This is unfair, I'm sorry, it took me years to accumulate these oddities!
If you could loan me some time...
One of the reasons I'm not in a book club, my reading choices are way too eccentric :)
I don't need one since I've been a very catholic reader from elementary school on, hunting for the unusual across genres. I do, however, often read the same book as my spouse if it's biography or history and am re-reading a lot of History these days, am in the middle of A Distant Mirror again and will follow it by Dan Jones's history of the Middle Ages, Thrones and Powers. In the mystery Johan Theorin--deciding soon which book to go back to.
I love A Distant Mirror, try William Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire, next. It's a thin and thoughtful book.
I read all three volumes of his Churchill biography last summer. Marvelous. We have a shelf of Churchill books and many shelves of WWI and WWII history and a whole book case of Medieval, Renaissance, Balkan, Russian, British....