Best NON-SF/Fantasy Novels

[JohnT]

I see that my vanity search bait has caught the intended prey.

Thought you'd like seeing this thread, Asher.

[Ramo]

I've given up trying to figure out what my favorite novels are, so I'll just talk about some good recent ones I've read.

I just finished The Known World by Edward Jones. The novel centers around a black slave-owner who dies in 1855, with a Tolstoyan cast of characters. Explores the nature of power, particularly how society reinforces dominant power relationships. A really good read, but quite dense.

Prior to that, I'd read A Bend in the River by V S Naipaul. Based on an East African of South Asian descent, whose world is crumbling due to colonial upheaval, and sets up shop in the Belgian Congo (Zaire) just after independence. Goes on Naipaul's usual themes of isolation, colonialism and independence, etc. Excellent as Naipaul usually is.

And before that, Middlesex Jefferey Eugenides. It's a family history of Greek immigrants to the US. Similar to Midnights' Children or A Hundred Years of Solitude, but not of their caliber. Still a fine novel.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Ramo


One of my favorite novels.

I'm particularly fond of the Rooskies: Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Pushkin, etc.

Yea, it's amazing that the Russians had virtually no literature until the 18th century, and by the 19th they arguably had the best in the world.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by DarkCloud
what about Gogol... the Ukrainian semi-fantasist surrealist?

One of the great pleasures of my college education was having my Russian lit professor read Gogol out loud to the class. If you were late to that class you had no chance at getting a seat, there were always more people attending than were officially enrolled.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by General Ludd
I did another google search on a whim and found that Michael Jackson lives in a mansion with 16 bathrooms.

http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/michael_jackson/index.shtml

Is there something you'd like to share with us, Kuci?

Not a bathroom I suspect.

[Nostromo]

I'm starting Lost Illusions by Balzac. The theme of the books is promising

[DarkCloud]

One of the great pleasures of my college education was having my Russian lit professor read Gogol out loud to the class. If you were late to that class you had no chance at getting a seat, there were always more people attending than were officially enrolled.

Sikander- that's great- I would have loved being in that class!

[Richelieu]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
If youre comfortable reading English, you should try reading him in the original. In Honourable Schoolboy, theres a certain amount of interplay between the British and Americans, and the different national (and class -yes among the Americans too) dialects is something he uses to establish charecter, and that would likely be lost.

I've just started Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the original english. It's hard work for someone who'se second language is North American english.
There obviously are certain Brit expressions that are harder to get on the first read, but i'm getting more familiar with them now. And it does add a lot of flavour.
I don't envy the translators task.

[Ramo]

Yea, it's amazing that the Russians had virtually no literature until the 18th century, and by the 19th they arguably had the best in the world.

It's particularly interesting considering that Russian literacy wasn't all that impressive during this period.

[DarkCloud]

Just for fun, has anyone else here considered assembling a list of the 100 greatest novels according to Apolytoners much like the AFI does with its movies, or the literary associations come out with every few years?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by DarkCloud

Sikander- that's great- I would have loved being in that class!

Too bad there weren't more like it. The professor was actually the father of one of my friends from high school soccer, but I never actually got to know him at all until I took that class. He read quite a bit out loud with masterful comic tension and amazing inflection that showcased the irony and absurdity of the stories. He read a bonus piece by an Italian author titled "Gogol's Wife" which was one of the more hilarious bits I've ever heard. Check it out if you happen upon it, it's short and sweet. Apparantly the author was a friend or colleague of Gogol when he was in exile.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Ramo


It's particularly interesting considering that Russian literacy wasn't all that impressive during this period.

Yes, it was really a tiny subset of the population that produced it, though their actions undoubtedly helped to increase those numbers by giving people of more mundane means a reason to learn to read. A similar Golden Age happened with Russian composers at around the same time.

[MosesPresley]

edit: oops, wrong thread.