Attack of the flat books

[muckefuck]

I have a bad conscience in bookstores these days. Whenever I'm browsing the literature section, a nagging voice is asking me Why are you buying more fiction when you still have so much lying around unread at home? Ever since mollpeartree had the inspirational idea of a "reading confessional" to turn social pressure into a motivation for making her way through neglected titles, I've been thinking of doing something like that myself. Before I could solicit votes, however, I'd need to pare the possibilities down to a short list.

So here are ten titles in the category "20th/21st century novels in English", most of which I bought in the past year or two. What they all have in common is that they intrigued me enough for me to sacrifice at least $2, the energy to lug them home, and shelf space to store them. Tell me what you think--it doesn't matter whether you've familiar with the authors or not.

1. Felipe Alfau. Locos.
2. T. Obinkaram Echewa. I saw the sky catch fire.
3. Michael Frayn. Headlong.
4. Abdulrazak Gurnah. By the sea.
5. Alan Hollinghurst. The line of beauty.
6. Rohinton Mistry. Family matters.
7. Bharati Mukherjee. The holder of the world.
8. V.S. Naipaul. A bend in the river.
9. Audrey Niffenegger. The time traveler's wife.
10. M.G. Vassanji. Book of secrets.

Comments

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

Headlong is not that great, or at least not that memorable, it was amongst a shipment of books my sister sent me when I had a 3 hr daily train commute into Boston. I did read it, in desparation.

[nitouche.livejournal.com]

I actually liked Headlong very much. I read a Bend in the River years and years ago, but don't remember it very well -- I'm also having problems reading Naipaul recently, since his recent political extremism colours the earlier stuff too much for me. Um, let's see -- Vassanji & Mistry are both good writers, but I haven't read either of those two.

Have you read English Passengers, btw?

[nitouche.livejournal.com]

Damn. Now I need a paid account so I can edit my stupid html.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Do what I do: Copy the text, paste it into a fresh new comment, and delete the old one.

[nibadi.livejournal.com]

Why are you buying more fiction when you still have so much lying around unread at home?

Was für eine seltsame Frage? Soll man erst Tee oder Alkoholika kaufen, wenn man alles weggetrunken hat?

Ich kenne die meisten Autoren auf deiner Liste nicht. Muss ich mir Sorgen machen?

Von Naipaul habe ich zwei Romane gelesen. In der deutschen Übersetzung heißen sie "In einem freien Land" und "der mystische Masseur". Ich habe sie sehr gerne gelesen. Ich habe noch drei weitere Bücher von Naipaul im Regal stehen, die vieleicht auch irgendwann gelesen werden. Trotzdem kauf ich mir jeden Monat neue Bücher ... einige lese ich zeitnah, andere später ... und das eine oder andere vieleicht nie.

PS: wird es denn noch was mit den Fotos aus China? ;) Ich hatte auch gehofft, dich mal wieder (zumindest auf dem Foto) zu sehen, nach 4 Jahren wo ich dich gesehen habe.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Soll man erst Tee oder Alkoholika kaufen, wenn man alles weggetrunken hat?

Wäre eventuell keine dumme Idee. Ich habe eine Menge Geld in exotische Tees und Liköre angelegt, die nur im Regal sitzen. Mal vorstellen, wie viele Nachschlagewerke ich hätte mit diesem Kies kaufen können!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Everyone seems to love The Time Traveler's Wife; I liked it quite a bit, but it had problems. It's a quick enough read, though, and the plotting is fun, so you should read it anyway.

[sconstant.livejournal.com]

I felt it was a lot like the offspring of a mad scientist breeding a sci fi time-travel book with an Oprah bookclub selection. But I liked it.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Yes! That about sums it up.

[thesilia.livejournal.com]

i vote for 8, 9, 2, and 1 in that order. i don't know anything about MOST of those books, and i've never read any of them. i'm judging them by their titles.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

All I know about 1 and 2 is what I've read on the cover blurb. Niffenegger was recommended by (and loaned from!) my brother bunj and Naipaul is like über-famous, at least in certain circles.