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muckefuckI wasn't sure what to expect from Green and, having finished Minuit, I'm not sure what to think of it. The structure is unusual. First there's a prelude, explaining how the protagonist came to be orphaned, then an interlude, explaining how she lost one protector and was delivered into the arms of another, both of which are told in a realistic, tragicomic style. Then comes the meat of the work, which begins as an updating of the gothic novel with surrealist and psychological elements before dissipating into the symbolism and mysticism. He didn't lose me with his turn for the allegorical, but neither did I find it very profound and kept reading mainly to learn the heroine's fate. It also didn't help my suspension of disbelief that the erotic elements read much more like the fantasies of a mature gay man than an adolescent girl's.
I haven't given up on Des feux mal éteints (only about 70 pages left after all) but I was craving something a little lighter and so picked up Marcel Aymé Contes du chat perché. It reads as one of those children's books which are really for adults--it's crammed with passé simple, and while the diction is simple as well the vocabulary is grownup enough. Reading it feels like fun rather than work.
You know what's also a fun read? Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I thought all that Tudor period trivia would be something a slog for an English history slacker like me, but she makes it very digestible. I've had the book for something like a year (and been looking for a good used copy for longer) but what finally pushed me to pick it up was seeing Anna Bolena and figuring this would be a more engaging introduction to the period than a nonfiction text. (If I decide I really care about historical accuracy, I can wade through the research later.)
I haven't given up on Des feux mal éteints (only about 70 pages left after all) but I was craving something a little lighter and so picked up Marcel Aymé Contes du chat perché. It reads as one of those children's books which are really for adults--it's crammed with passé simple, and while the diction is simple as well the vocabulary is grownup enough. Reading it feels like fun rather than work.
You know what's also a fun read? Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I thought all that Tudor period trivia would be something a slog for an English history slacker like me, but she makes it very digestible. I've had the book for something like a year (and been looking for a good used copy for longer) but what finally pushed me to pick it up was seeing Anna Bolena and figuring this would be a more engaging introduction to the period than a nonfiction text. (If I decide I really care about historical accuracy, I can wade through the research later.)
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