Book suggestions

[undyingking]

It's time for our book group to draw up a new list, and once more I'm turning to you guys for some good ideas. The ones we ended up with last time are listed here, to give an idea of the sorts of things that people go for.

All I've got so far is William Hope Hodgson's The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder, which I've been meaning to read for ages so this seems a good excuse. I have to suggest five titles, and it'd be good to have a couple of non-fiction and a couple of modern / recent ones.

The criteria, as last time, are:

• can be new or old;
• can be fiction, non, play, or anything else really;
• should be something I'm likely to find interesting;
• and so are the rest of the group, who are quite a mix of types, ages, etc;
• shouldn't be deep-genre, ie. relying on existing knowledge of genre for enjoyment -- but fringe-genre is fine;
• must be readily available in paperback in the UK;
• not too long, people get antsy over about 400 pages;
• in English (although can be a translation of course);
• probably some other things I haven't thought of.

Any recommendations?

Comments

[gbsteve.livejournal.com]

Here are a few, some of which you've no doubt read before.

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Palace of Dreams - Ishmael Kadare
The Bridge - Iain Banks
Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem - Peter Ackroyd
Her name was Lola - Russell Hoban
The Intuitionist - Colson Whitehead
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

[celestialweasel.livejournal.com]

I would go along with the Intuitionist (John Henry Days by Whitehead is also worth reading but The Intuitionist is probably better).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, okay, thanks!

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Later in the year I am sure the Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book will be out in paperback, but until then...

- As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela, by Mark Thomas. Wittily written expo on the Arms Trade, particularly in the UK.
- Watership Down. Often overlooked as a childrens book, but it is among the best written books I have ever read.
- The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter. Short stories all based on traditional fairy tales. Includes "The Company of Wolves", which was made into a film.
- Black Ajax, by George MacDonald Fraser. A semi-fictionalised retelling of the life of Tom Molineaux, a black boxer and former slave, during the Regency Era.

If you want an Iain Banks for a book group, I would go for either the Crow Road or Espadair Street. Especially Espadair Street. Fabulous story, and much shorter than the Crow Road.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Black Ajax could be a good one, I don't think we've ever done Fraser. I've read all the others, but interesting to see a good overlap between your likes and mine across such diverse books!

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

That is quite interesting; I deliberately went for diversity in that selection! It's a shame (in this context) that you have already read "As Used...", as it hit quite a few of the points you specified in your criteria. Still, I'm sure Naomi Klein will serve you well in that capacity!

Black Ajax is a good read; compiled from various documents and supposedly first hand accounts, lots of Regency slang provides flavour. Fraser does somewhat tip his hand on the extent to which it is fictionalised by including Harry Flashman's father in the narrative!

[triskellian]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
I second the recommendation, but add a caveat: it's pretty harrowing stuff. Depending on your book group's tolerance for harrow, it might not be a good choice (I don't think I'd suggest it for ours, and I wasn't sure of my willingness to finish it when I started it).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, by repute I think that would grim me out.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I haven't read the Kadare or the Whitehead (or The Road, but I don't want to read that ;-) -- I'll look into those, thanks!

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

Anything I've read you've probably already read, but I have to put a plug in for Such a Long Journey (Rohinton Mistry) and Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the Mistry, so yes, that would be a good one, thanks!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I usually only read drivel but Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow sticks out. It's essentially SciFi as it's set in the future (mid to late this century) and involves space-travel but that forms a small part of the book and just a means of getting the characters where they need to be.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

It is a fine book, but I read it some time ago so sadly disqualified.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thought you would have.

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Oh, two must-reads:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by (if memory serves) Michael Pirsig. An old one, but if you have not read it yet, you must. You might get run over by a bus tomorrow after all. Psychology, Autobiography, Philosophy and travelogue. There is a bit about motorcycle maintenance in there as well, but not much, and it's not gratuitous.

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Unless you have yet to read No Logo, in which case, No Logo by Naomi Klein, but No Logo describes the world as it was 10 years ago or so, whereas the Shock Doctrine is bang up to date.

[panzerpenguin.livejournal.com]

I beg to differ.

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

You are entitled to differ, but even if you are right
(which to my mind you are not), it doesn't make it a bad book for a discussion group.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, a bit of dividing opinion would be a good thing. And I haven't read it yet, although I did find No Logo very thought-provoking.

[panzerpenguin.livejournal.com]

When Hodgson is good, he is very, very good. I am most grateful to dear old uncle HPL for his well-considered recommendation in Supernatural Horror in Literature.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, I read The Night Land yonks ago on that basis, but have never pursued him any further. Until today (possibly)!

[dan-golem.livejournal.com]

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mossin Hamid

It's sitting on my to-read pile, but I found the opening extremely gripping, and

it's topical

a mere 208 pp of well-spaced, medium sized type

on 2 for 3 in Waterstone's (last time I looked)

What more could you want?

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Great suggestion! -- I'll look into that.

(Do I know you in real life, by the way?)

[the-elyan.livejournal.com]

Things I've especially enjoyed and would recommend:

Colin Thubron - In Siberia.
[for an interesting cross-cut, try that and his "Among the Russians", which covered the same ground in the days of Brezhnev]

Iain MacLeod - The Light Ages

Michael Frayn - Copenhagen (play)

I thought of Lord Dunsany, but Time and the Gods is rather on the lengthy side. Maybe The King of Elfland's Daughter (which I must admit I haven't read)

Graham Swift - Waterland or Last Orders

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

I would be very happy to recommend the King of Elfland's Daughter on your behalf; it is a gorgeous book. His use of language is like a banquet in an age of fast food.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Great suggestions, thanks! I think the MacLeod might be a bit too "genre" for the group, though.

[theo]

From my TBR (so suggestions rather than recommendations):
Sebastian Barry – A Long Long Way
Junot Diaz - Drown
Adam Haslett – You Are Not a Stranger Here
Rohinton Mistry – A Fine Balance
Christopher Moore - Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
Jess Walter – Citizen Vince
Yevgeny Zamyatin - We

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Interesting list, thanks! -- I've only read one of those (We) and never even heard of a couple. Must investigate further!

[gbsteve.livejournal.com]

I also enjoyed Chabon's Vance/Leiber piece disguised as historical fiction, Gentlemen of the Road.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'll look out for that, I enjoyed The Final Solution.