An amazing list from which I have read very few titles. I’m prompted to get out of my comfort zone. Glad to see David Lodge there who is a great comic novelist imho.
Bound to Violence was out of print, but I think it might be available again. It’s delicious. The author was accused of plagiarizing Graham Greene. The whole saga behind it is fascinating. Malian author.
Fabulous list of titles: thanks from my inner librarian. I enjoyed your discussion of title and cover very much, what it’s trying to do, and how it misses. I also love that you uncovered the title reference so clearly. As I read the quote, the imagery morphed for me into: a child reaching under the net for strawberries.
wow!! This is a great list
An amazing list from which I have read very few titles. I’m prompted to get out of my comfort zone. Glad to see David Lodge there who is a great comic novelist imho.
Thanks so much, John, I hope you have fun with it
To the list:
John O'Hara's "Pal Joey," which became a superior musical ("Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered," "I Could Write a Book").
"Eugene Onegin," which, in stretches, parodies itself, and was the basis of an inferior ballet.
Thanks!
I love lists of books! Intrigued to say the least.
Vicki
Two additions to the list
Yambo Ouologuem, Bound to Violence
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Wizard of the Crow
Very excited it starts with Chinua Achebe! For a long time, most popular Kenyan fiction was satire.
I love Wizard of the Crow, thanks for the reminder. I don’t know this other one, the Ouloguem.
Bound to Violence was out of print, but I think it might be available again. It’s delicious. The author was accused of plagiarizing Graham Greene. The whole saga behind it is fascinating. Malian author.
Fabulous list of titles: thanks from my inner librarian. I enjoyed your discussion of title and cover very much, what it’s trying to do, and how it misses. I also love that you uncovered the title reference so clearly. As I read the quote, the imagery morphed for me into: a child reaching under the net for strawberries.
Wow, that is interesting.
Adding to the list: Oreo by Fran Ross
Lol I bought it after your rec and forgot to put it on. It’s certainly on my private list. I will edit that in!
I think I need to read more comic novels? For the list: Midnight’s Children and its ancestor Tristram Shandy