Category Archives: great books

January 26, 2012   Jessica   great books, opinion, reading, recommendations  
1

Reading to Quiet the Monkey Mind

My family has been in the grip of a particularly nasty stomach virus this week, so aside from endless loads of laundry, I fear I’ve not been able to accomplish much. My recent attempts to read this week’s New Yorker felt uncomfortably like the Shouts and Murmurs piece contained therein, “Me Reading,” in which the author, plowing through Anna Karenina on her Kindle while seated on the subway, is hard-pressed to concentrate.

“ ‘Yes, I understand it all now,’ said Darya Alexandrovna. ‘You can’t understand it; for you men, who are free and make your own choice, it’s always clear whom you love.’ ”

Did Larry really finish the Pecan Sandies? Now what will I eat?

“Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev wanted a . . .”

Jane’s a nice name. I could make waffles

My own waffling came to an abrupt end, however, when I got to Adam Gopnik’s The Caging of America: Why Do We Lock Up so Many People? His argument: “The scale and the brutality of our prisons are the moral scandal of American life,” which he elaborates in his discussion of several recently published books on the American system of incarceration.  His piece was so effective, so astringent, so appalling that it banished all distraction–professional, domestic, and epidemiological–and nailed me to the page.

I’m curious to know what you’ve read, whether an article, a book, or a blog post, that shut down your multitasking “monkey mind” and commanded your absolute attention.

January 20, 2012   Rachel   Rachel S., fun, great books, titles  
6

A Rose by Any Other Name

It’s a well-known phenomenon that writers, artists and other creative types alike are, at the very least, incredibly close to their work. The tiniest change in detail, a spot of color there, a preposition change here means a great deal to the creator. It should only rightly follow, then, that the title of a book goes under a great deal of change and scrutiny and causes much consternation. Visual artists can get away with calling everything “Untitled #__,” but writers have this dilemma of having to use words. And we all know how hard it is to get words exactly, 100% beautifully right!

Despite all of this, it’s hard to imagine old favorites or tried and true classics ever being called anything else. I came across this article in Publishers Weekly yesterday (okay, Lauren showed it to me) revealing what the working titles for many old standbys were. Of course James Joyce would be super secretive about Finnegan’s Wake, and though I’ve never read more than 3 pages of the book before throwing it across the room, I can see where Work in Progress would have been applicable. The book does start in the middle of a sentence…

I love that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? had to be changed to Who’s Afraid of Franz Kafka? in Prague for contextual and political reasons and I really, really, really wish that The Great Gatsby was called The High Bouncing Lover. Alas.

Could any of the “great books,” or even just famous books do with a better title? How many titles do you end up going through before settling on the perfect one? Can someone please write a book and call it The Terror of the Monster?

January 10, 2012   Morris   Morris, great books, reading  
2

A Report. Kind Of.

Way back in December (it feels like forever ago) I blogged about reading two books at once. I promised to report on how it went.

Well, here it is. Kind of.

I was reading Embassytown, a novel by the wonderful China Meivelle, and 1922, a novella by the legendary Stephen King. I found that while I read 1922, and took a break from Embassytown. 1922, being a measly 120 or so pages, didn’t take very long to read, so the break from ‘Town wasn’t very long at all, hardly noticible. Still, I didn’t actually flip between the two.

1922 was terrifying, by the way. Emabssytown was incredibly dense, but very thought-provoking and satisfying .

So, the experiment continues! The Art Of Fielding, by Chad Harbach, and Sleepless, by Charlie Huston. So far the biggest issue is deciding which one to put in my bag – The Art Of Fielding is too big for me to fit both…

December 21, 2011   Miriam   Miriam, advice, fun, great books, reading  
2

I wish you books…

Read a book!

Because it makes you smarter.

Because it’s fun.

Because it sharpens your wit and develops your capacity for empathy.

Because it makes the existential void a little less like a black hole.

Because it allows you to defy the laws of physics and travel through time and space.

Because it forces you to consider other opinions, other practices, other “right” ways to do things.

Because it allows you to walk into the most well attended, interesting party, listen in on outrageous conversations, get caught up on all the gossip…and leave whenever you want.

Because the more you read, the more your brain and soul expand.

Because you can’t be lonely when you’re immersed in a good book.

Because just this year, I’ve hung out with Keith Richards and Patti Smith, fallen in love with Hemingway all over again, realized that Dr. Seuss writes the best self-help books, been dazzled by Jonathan Franzen and Jennifer Egan, transported by Mary Stewart, titillated by Eloisa James, and tickled by Nora Ephron’s latest review of her crazy life.

Because I can’t imagine how bleak the world would be without books to record and re-imagine our achievements and losses, our  triumphs and tragedies, and all the greatness and smallness of our shared humanity.

So, go to your nearest bookstore or click on the “buy now” button on your eReader and get a book (or books) and start reading.    Then, tell everyone about it.

Happy holidays!

November 22, 2011   Morris   Morris, great books, horror, opinion, reading, thrillers, writing  
7

Weaving Plot and Prose: A Lesson From King

This past week, I finished Stephen King’s latest book: 11/22/63. The week before that, I read King’s mid 90’s serial novel The Green Mile. The week before that, I read King’s late 70’s horror masterpiece The Shining.

You could say I’ve been reading a lot Stephen King lately.

One of the things I noticed when reading 11/22/63 is that King finally seems to have figured out how to write fiction. He simply knows what words to put where to keep you reading. But that doesn’t mean his work is good. Now, I really liked 11/22/63. But I loved The Green Mile. And I will forever be affected by The Shining.

In The Shining, King is still figuring out this whole writing thing, and it’s apparent on the page. The writing is awkward and clumsy at times. King takes chances with unique phrasing

(REDRUM)

and  narrative techniques. He wrestles with the possibilities that are available to him, and it works. The Shining is the most terrifying book I have ever read. After reading thirty pages on the subway, I was unable to order coffee or read submissions. I was shaken.

In The Green Mile, King tackles a very serious challenge – a literary and suspenseful story about an older man looking back on his past. There isn’t much action in it, but I was on the edge of my (subway) seat the entire time. Again, King’s prose here really helped accentuate the right aspects of the book.

In 11/22/63, King’s writing has become formulaic and universal. There are parts of 11/22/63 that are truly gripping and very, very real, but there are other parts of it where the story fall flat because King is utilizing his perfect writing. And while that may work all of the time, it’s not necessarily appropriate every time.

So what I’m learning from diving headfirst into the deep, deep pool that is The Works Of Stephen King is that prose and plot must always be dancing with each other. When King adapts his writing to suit his story and vice-versa, the effect shines. When he doesn’t, when he sticks with his tried and true prose style, well, it doesn’t fall flat – it is Stephen King, after all – but it simply doesn’t work as perfectly.

But, of course, everyone has their own opinion on craft vs. plot. What about you? Would you endure a terrible plot because the writing is beautiful? Would you drag through clunky prose because the story is great?

November 22, 2011   John   John, favorites, great books, holidays, opinion, reading  
2

What a year!

Well, I’d hoped to stave off the holiday season for just a few more days—at least until Santa lumbers down Broadway on Thursday morning at the end of the Macy’s Parade. But the Times just released their 100 Notable Books for 2011, so I guess there’s no escaping now…

Of all the year-end best-of lists, I find the Times list the most instructive. Perhaps it comes with being the Paper of Record, but typically they go for the popular, consensus picks of the best in a given year, and so it provides a good picture of what worked, both artistically and commercially. For me as an agent, it’s especially useful to look at the nonfiction list and review the categories that got them excited—lotsa history, lotsa memoir this time out. And, of course, it’s always fun to grouse about the omissions—ahem, cough, Steve Jobs, ahem?

But this year more than any other, the list make me realize just how loooong this year felt. Didn’t Swamplandia! come out a zillion years ago? The Tiger’s Wife? I could swear I was talking about Malcom X with the editor back in 2010…

For sure, having a newborn at home has certainly dragged out the days (and nights). On the other hand, coming to the end of my first full calendar year as an agent, I’ve handled a lot more projects than I did as an editor, and with a much faster rate of turnover, too—so in that respect, news quickly becomes old news, and old news seems that much older.

Hence, for once, I’m actually grateful to the Times for reminding me of books that are way off my radar at this point—and that I won’t be hopelessly out of date if I tackle some of them over the holidays!

Any thoughts on the list? Other glaring omissions? Anyone else feel like 2011 went on forever?

October 26, 2011   Stacey   Stacey, children's books, fun, great books, holidays  
6

Halloween reading treats for kids

In my house right now, let’s just say there is a lot of prepping and planning going on for Halloween. Samantha, my first grader, has brought home Halloween-themed library books the last 3 weeks. They must have a section dedicated to the holiday! I’ll take it, as will our dentist. Reading books about Halloween is definitely preferable to eating all the candy associated with it, although we’re working through our fair share of that too.

So in anticipation of the big day, I thought I’d share this piece from The Seattle Times about some new books for this scary and fun time of year. It’s amazing that these are all new titles; they just keep coming. It seems this time of year brings a lot more than just tricks and treats (can’t help the puns, it’s that kind of thing). Last year, we really enjoyed Scaredy-Cat Splat! by Rob Scotton, who visited the school and signed a copy for my daughter.

I’d love to know which are your favorite spooky, scary, or funny Halloween books for kids, ones that you loved growing up or newer ones that you enjoy reading to your kids now. Because I suspect that Halloween in our house is going to continue long past October 31st, and that next year we’ll start getting ready even sooner, like right around Labor Day.

September 21, 2011   Miriam   Miriam, fiction, fun, great books, guilty pleasures, reading, reviews  
21

Virtuous reading

My neighborhood book club is tomorrow night and I’m about 100 pages into this month’s fiction pick, The Tiger’s Wife.  I guess that if I stay up late and cram I can finish it in time to dazzle the ladies with my literary insights.  Problem is, I got to page 100 about two months ago and I have had zero desire to pick the book up again.  Despite the apocalyptically excellent reviews (sorry, couldn’t come up with an adjective BIG enough for the unctuous praise the book received), those first 100 pages left me pretty cold.  Sure, Ms. Obreht is a precociously fine writer, but if you’re familiar with magical realism and Eastern European novels of the last half century, you might find, like I did, that a lot of her schtick is derivative and not particularly emotionally impactful.

Or, you might think it’s a brilliant book and that I’m a boor for being bored by it.  No matter.  The point of my rambling today is that with any other book, I might have reached that 100-page stopping point and, deciding that life’s too short, buried the novel somewhere in the lower shelves of an overstuffed bookcase never to be seen again.  But, I can’t seem to do that.  This is one of those books that I feel obligated to slog through no matter how disappointed in it I already am or how certain that the next 200 pages are not going to change my mind.  What I want to be reading for pleasure is a toothy thriller, or a frothy paranormal, or literary fare that speaks to themes I’m concerned with right now, or historical nonfiction with lots of plot twists and stranger-than-fiction characters, or a totally irredeemable celebrity memoir.  What I feel obligated to do is finish Ms. Obreht’s opus just so that I can say I did.

I’ve always struggled with the notion of virtuous reading.  On the one hand, if it weren’t for virtuous reading, my literary education would be sorely lacking in some key areas (I’m thinking of you, James Fenimore Cooper).  On the other hand, with so many great books beckoning and the certainty that I’ll never get to enjoy but a fraction of the ones on my multi-page list of things to read before I die, it really rankles to devote valuable time to something just because it’s supposed to be good for me.

Where do you fall on this issue?  Do I keep reading and pat myself on the back for my moral fortitude or chuck it and move on to some other page turner?  What would you do?

September 07, 2011   Miriam   Miriam, authors, canon, college, culture, fun, great books, opinion, reading  
4

Syllabi

Yesterday, as I headed north on Broadway toward the 125th street entrance to the West Side Highway in a downpour not seen since, well, last week when gregarious Irene was paying a visit to the entire East Coast, I found myself stopped at a light in front of the main gates of Columbia University, my alma mater.  The street was teeming with rain and fresh faced freshmen looking vaguely shellshocked.  Watching them hurry to cross the street before the light changed and the homicidal cabbie in the next lane hit the gas, their overstuffed backpacks and grim expressions sent me into a reverie about my long ago school days.

One of the reasons I chose Columbia was its mandatory humanities courses—philosophy, literature, music, and art survey courses composed of the “canon” of great works.  As those of you who read this blog regularly know, most of us here at DGLM love a reading list and what better reason to go into thousands of dollars worth of debt than to emerge with a reading list full of masterpieces chosen by…old white guys, reflecting the ideology and intellectual tradition of…old white guys.  Wait!  Even with the occasional nod to a woman or person of color the canon really was rather limited and limiting in its choice of authors. All these years later, it still is.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved many if not most of those canonical choices, but I wonder what I would have changed in that syllabus for my lit hum class.  Instead of the Iliad, perhaps One Thousand and One Nights?  Borges instead of Dreiser?  Zora Neale Hurston instead of F. Scott Fitzgerald?  How about genre literature?  I know I would’ve traded a great mystery novel for the millions of pages on whaling by the esteemed Mr. Melville in a heartbeat.

Obviously, there’s no right list of classics, but if the idea is to shape young minds that will then go out and shape the world, what would your reading list include?

August 26, 2011   Lauren   Lauren, fun, great books, lists  
1

Some levity for your weekend

So, guys, things are getting a touch serious around here.  The city’s apparently closing mass transit tomorrow, and New Yorkers get a little edgy when there’s a routine train delay, so the impending hurricane has people somewhat nervous.  Instead of deliberating what degree of panic I should ratchet up to with that new announcement, I decided those of us in Hurricane Irene’s way or just having a rough day might want something to distract ourselves.  So I went to the best distraction source I know, cracked.com.

If you’re also feeling a bit freaked out or just down in the dumps, use some of that electricity while you’ve still got it and find out why Neo-Nazi’s love Lord of the Rings, that Machiavelli was a troll, how Dick and Jane made us stupider, and if Plato might’ve been trying to tell us where Atlantis was.  By the time you’re done clicking through the treasure trove of humorously rendered dubious facts that is Cracked, probably all your problems will have fixed themselves, right?  Right?

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