Tag: French literature
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Slowness
Review: Well, this was weird. Straight up peculiar and odd. I didn’t hate it, but I sure didn’t “get it”, that is if there was anything to get. I’m still not sure if I missed the joke, or the punchline, or the point. I’ve been meaning to read Milan Kundera for years because he has… Read more
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The Red and The Black
Review: This was one of the selections from my Lifetime Reading Plan book. It was loooooong. Fairly difficult prose as it was translated from 19th century French. But. It was good, very good. Way ahead of its time (1830). A novel that challenged conventions and showed the inside machinations of church and state in post… Read more
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Germinal
Review: 5 stars. Let’s get that out of the way. 5 stars. Needed to be said again. J.K. Huysmans described Germinal as ‘a lament rising from the darkness of hell.’ And he described it perfectly. This is my first Zola experience, and it will be my last, a masterpiece beyond any doubt but so depressing… Read more
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Pleasures and Days
Review: A little gem of a book. All of Proust’s juvenilia, all written before he was 23. All of it excellent. The first story he is definitely working Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich but with a more Proustian feel. The little vignette pieces are glorious. Moonlight walks through beech woods, you can really see the… Read more
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Time Regained (Volume 6)
Review: Out of all the volumes, this was the easiest to read. But not easy reading by any means. And World War I was happening in it, so there was some action, something beyond the interminable drawing rooms and endless reflecting and analyzing and… I did it! Done! 4300 pages and it’s “in the books”!… Read more
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The Captive and the Fugitive (Volume 5)
Review: Proust. Sometimes he writes himself into a corner and then laboriously extricates himself. Leaving the reader puzzling over quadruple negatives and peculiar phrasing. Protagonist finally revealed as “Marcel”. He is still a bone idle pussy, but as always the descriptions of light and sunshine and landscapes and architecture are exquisite. Overall rating: How I… Read more
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Madam Bovary
Review: Lots of rapturous sighs. It was a good read, I can see why it is respected, and the characters are good illustrations of 19th century townspeople. A bit 2-D though. She’s a “fallen woman” and things go downhill and end very badly. He’s a starry-eyed optimist. Everyone dies at the end. Good work, but… Read more
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The Devil’s Pool
Review: Bumpkins! Nice insight into the life and loves of 19th century French peasants. Overall rating: How I discovered or acquired this book: Random Kindle choice Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: Tord Gustuvsen in the rain. Ordered curry takeaway for the first time in years. Galub jamun! Check out author’s other books? Y Recommend… Read more
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Sodom and Gomorrah
Review: Good. Proust always is. But it’s pretty clear that: Characters in this volume are fairly cut and paste: Maybe it’s the translation, but some of the phrasing is so, so convoluted I had to struggle to see what his meaning actually was. Great, but needed a good editor to cut out some stuff and… Read more