Isn’t funny? You read a new name, and then you don’t stop seeing that name! For over a week we’ve been chatting about Dave Eggers, Kolina, and you’re continuing to convince me further that I need to read him. The Eggers pile is really piling up 😂🙏😊
In response to one of your questions, a series of novels that illuminated so much history for me is Gore Vidal’s Narratives of Empire. Forgive the shameless plug, but I’ve just done a big piece on these seven books for The Metropolitan Review as America turns 250. Your line here, that “Fiction, when done right, has the ability to reflect reality better than nonfiction,” is exactly what those books have the power to do 😃
YES. I love this so much. What is the What is in the voice of its subject, Valentino Achak Deng. But I do see Eggers’s voice in it. It’s not an easy read but wow wow wow.
As promised, I'll combine my comments from your last post and this one right here.
I must admit that when I read A Heartbreaking Work...it didn't move me too much. A friend gave it to me as I set off for Ukraine for the second time (in 2010) and as much as I enjoyed it, I've never felt compelled to read more of Eggers' work. What is the What sounds intriguing so may give that a go.
Are you familiar with the Flashman books by George MacDonald Fraser? I do think it's primarily men who read them, and they're not very politically correct I fear, but they do a great job of highlighting a range of historical events. In short, Flashman is a rogue and quite the ladies man and finds himself embroiled in conflicts all over the world - Afghanistan and India during the Great Game, for example, is featured in the first book and there are a couple of books set in the US as well. No matter what types of scrapes he gets into, Flashman always manages a daring escape. They're very funny as well, the guy is a cowardly cad.
Re: your fabulous top 40 list - I've read 12 of them, along with two honorable mentions (I love The Friend). And of those 12, there's only 1 that I didn't particularly enjoy (not a fan of Gladwell, I'm afraid, and I also couldn't past the first chapter of Atomic Habits). The rest are great.
And I have Giovanni's Room coming up soon on my kindle, and there's Orbital of course.
Olive Kitteridge is one I've been meaning to read, especially b/c a couple people suggested it would be a good comp for my own novel (I guess one of my characters is a 'male Olive') though it's a bit too old for a comp, I still do plan to read it eventually.
I'm turning 50 (yikes!) very soon so the time is ripe for a '50 books that have made me' but I've sworn off any more lists and already covered a few memorable books (the biggest is probably The Sheltering Sky). A couple books I've read recently have been spectacular - Straight Man, by Richard Russo and The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Both were amusing, but The Sellout had me laughing hysterically throughout. I'm currently 1/3 of the way through The Bee Sting but I'm not sure how much I'm enjoying it.
It’s interesting to me you didn’t like A Heartbreaking Work that much! I found it so quirky and interesting. That’s what I love so much about discussing different books with the same people. Just when you think you get someone’s tastes, you find out you’re wrong!
I’m not familiar with the Flashman books. They sound really interesting though. I love a novel that teaches me something about real-life events. I bet I could handle of of those books every once in awhile, if I were to break them up with a good palate cleanser.
Giovanni’s Room and Orbital are so different but both excellent. As I mentioned, you may very well hate Orbital! I don’t think you’ll hate Giovanni’s Room — but again, what do I know at this point!
A male Olive?! What is Male Olive’s name?! Even if Olive Kitteridge isn’t a comp, you could make the comparison in a pitch, like if Olive Kitteridge were a man living in ______.
Good for you for swearing off lists. They take so much freaking time. I found the last one I did was really cathartic though. I knew I was spending way too much time on it but at the same time, I was doing something for me as opposed to for everyone else so it felt right. That said, I think many people would be interested in your 50 books that made you post.
Everyone seems to have loved The Bee Sting. I haven’t read it yet. I’ll be curious to hear if it turns a corner for you!
As always, thank you for chatting books with me. It’s the best.
As we all know, timing is everything when it comes to reading certain books - especially the potentially more powerful ones. Stoner is one of those examples - I read it while going through a particularly troubling situation in my personal life and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. I could see bits of myself in the character. It might be the same with A Heartbreaking Work if I read it now.
I forgot to mention - I picked up quite a few secondhand books in the UK but I went overboard and then saw Heart the Lover and I remember your experience of reading that before/after Giovanni's Room and I made the agonising decision not to get it (rare restraint from me!)
The male Olive is Groucho Marks and he is, surprise surprise, a grumpy teacher with a foul mouth and very uncouth teaching techniques. Getting my query package finalised has been an ordeal.
Based on your review, I stopped what I was reading and started the kindle version of What is the What, and I had the same thought - why was I even reading anything else? I was reading Us Fools by Nora Lang, a relatable story about the relationship of two sisters and the Midwestern farm crisis in the 80's, but it paled in comparison. I'm 30% done on What is the What, so thanks for not spoiling it!
I read Eggers’ Hologram for a King. I liked it but found it more satirical, cynical, dystopian. What is the What doesn’t have time for any of that! It's so much more visceral and gut punching. The story behind the story reminds me of the collaboration between Alex Haley and Malcom X, whose book was pitched as an autobiography. The verdict there seems that Haley mastered X's voice and the last chapter written by Haley about finishing the work afar X's death is so touching following a work burns with fire and brimstone.
I was on vacation last week and got a lot of reading done! I finished Toni Morrison's Home 2 hours into a 7-hour flight! I panicked that I wasn't going to have anything to read! Especially after sitting through the first 45 minutes of the Wuthering Heights movie that in no way is like the book. But I did find other books to read including What is the What. I finished God, Help the Child which is the last Toni Morrison book I had to read in my completionist quest.
I think that reading books in translation most frequently and vividly gives a different impression of history and culture. My mom's family traces their ancestry to Germany; she had visited East Berlin in the days of the Wall and the secret police. Her brother served in the US army and spent most of the Eighties in Germany preparing for war between empires that never happened. Needless to say, I didn't have a positive view of East Germany. Then I read Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck and it showed East Berlin in a different light. I found her other novels do the same. Similarly, I found Heinrich Boll's The Clown to be basically the West German version of The Catcher in the Rye and that 1950s West Germany wasn't much different than Fifties in America. Finally, Boll’s Group Portrait with Lady painted a much different version of Germany in the '30s and '40s than I had learned. Reading his novel gave me an empathy for at least a fictional citizenry that had been denied me by media propaganda and historical revisionism. History is written by the victors, but everyone has a story to tell; I’d like to think the universal human urge to art is stronger than the urge to war.
Erpenbeck won a Booker Award and Boll the Nobel, which I feel legitimizes their portrayals - as much as art imitates life.
Isn’t funny? You read a new name, and then you don’t stop seeing that name! For over a week we’ve been chatting about Dave Eggers, Kolina, and you’re continuing to convince me further that I need to read him. The Eggers pile is really piling up 😂🙏😊
In response to one of your questions, a series of novels that illuminated so much history for me is Gore Vidal’s Narratives of Empire. Forgive the shameless plug, but I’ve just done a big piece on these seven books for The Metropolitan Review as America turns 250. Your line here, that “Fiction, when done right, has the ability to reflect reality better than nonfiction,” is exactly what those books have the power to do 😃
Oh how cool! I will check it out. That sounds fascinating.
I love that the Eggers-verse is sending you invitations from all directions. Which book are you going to start with?!
I think, think, Staggering Genius will be first. But I may have to order What Is The What with it so I have it ready 😄
YES. I love this so much. What is the What is in the voice of its subject, Valentino Achak Deng. But I do see Eggers’s voice in it. It’s not an easy read but wow wow wow.
I’m excited for you!
Me too! Thanks, Kolina 🙏☺️
As promised, I'll combine my comments from your last post and this one right here.
I must admit that when I read A Heartbreaking Work...it didn't move me too much. A friend gave it to me as I set off for Ukraine for the second time (in 2010) and as much as I enjoyed it, I've never felt compelled to read more of Eggers' work. What is the What sounds intriguing so may give that a go.
Are you familiar with the Flashman books by George MacDonald Fraser? I do think it's primarily men who read them, and they're not very politically correct I fear, but they do a great job of highlighting a range of historical events. In short, Flashman is a rogue and quite the ladies man and finds himself embroiled in conflicts all over the world - Afghanistan and India during the Great Game, for example, is featured in the first book and there are a couple of books set in the US as well. No matter what types of scrapes he gets into, Flashman always manages a daring escape. They're very funny as well, the guy is a cowardly cad.
Re: your fabulous top 40 list - I've read 12 of them, along with two honorable mentions (I love The Friend). And of those 12, there's only 1 that I didn't particularly enjoy (not a fan of Gladwell, I'm afraid, and I also couldn't past the first chapter of Atomic Habits). The rest are great.
And I have Giovanni's Room coming up soon on my kindle, and there's Orbital of course.
Olive Kitteridge is one I've been meaning to read, especially b/c a couple people suggested it would be a good comp for my own novel (I guess one of my characters is a 'male Olive') though it's a bit too old for a comp, I still do plan to read it eventually.
I'm turning 50 (yikes!) very soon so the time is ripe for a '50 books that have made me' but I've sworn off any more lists and already covered a few memorable books (the biggest is probably The Sheltering Sky). A couple books I've read recently have been spectacular - Straight Man, by Richard Russo and The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Both were amusing, but The Sellout had me laughing hysterically throughout. I'm currently 1/3 of the way through The Bee Sting but I'm not sure how much I'm enjoying it.
It’s interesting to me you didn’t like A Heartbreaking Work that much! I found it so quirky and interesting. That’s what I love so much about discussing different books with the same people. Just when you think you get someone’s tastes, you find out you’re wrong!
I’m not familiar with the Flashman books. They sound really interesting though. I love a novel that teaches me something about real-life events. I bet I could handle of of those books every once in awhile, if I were to break them up with a good palate cleanser.
Giovanni’s Room and Orbital are so different but both excellent. As I mentioned, you may very well hate Orbital! I don’t think you’ll hate Giovanni’s Room — but again, what do I know at this point!
A male Olive?! What is Male Olive’s name?! Even if Olive Kitteridge isn’t a comp, you could make the comparison in a pitch, like if Olive Kitteridge were a man living in ______.
Good for you for swearing off lists. They take so much freaking time. I found the last one I did was really cathartic though. I knew I was spending way too much time on it but at the same time, I was doing something for me as opposed to for everyone else so it felt right. That said, I think many people would be interested in your 50 books that made you post.
Everyone seems to have loved The Bee Sting. I haven’t read it yet. I’ll be curious to hear if it turns a corner for you!
As always, thank you for chatting books with me. It’s the best.
As we all know, timing is everything when it comes to reading certain books - especially the potentially more powerful ones. Stoner is one of those examples - I read it while going through a particularly troubling situation in my personal life and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. I could see bits of myself in the character. It might be the same with A Heartbreaking Work if I read it now.
I forgot to mention - I picked up quite a few secondhand books in the UK but I went overboard and then saw Heart the Lover and I remember your experience of reading that before/after Giovanni's Room and I made the agonising decision not to get it (rare restraint from me!)
The male Olive is Groucho Marks and he is, surprise surprise, a grumpy teacher with a foul mouth and very uncouth teaching techniques. Getting my query package finalised has been an ordeal.
The book chat is fun 🤗
Just added this to my TBR list - it sounds incredible!
I’m so happy to hear that! Let me know how it goes.
I will!
Based on your review, I stopped what I was reading and started the kindle version of What is the What, and I had the same thought - why was I even reading anything else? I was reading Us Fools by Nora Lang, a relatable story about the relationship of two sisters and the Midwestern farm crisis in the 80's, but it paled in comparison. I'm 30% done on What is the What, so thanks for not spoiling it!
I read Eggers’ Hologram for a King. I liked it but found it more satirical, cynical, dystopian. What is the What doesn’t have time for any of that! It's so much more visceral and gut punching. The story behind the story reminds me of the collaboration between Alex Haley and Malcom X, whose book was pitched as an autobiography. The verdict there seems that Haley mastered X's voice and the last chapter written by Haley about finishing the work afar X's death is so touching following a work burns with fire and brimstone.
I was on vacation last week and got a lot of reading done! I finished Toni Morrison's Home 2 hours into a 7-hour flight! I panicked that I wasn't going to have anything to read! Especially after sitting through the first 45 minutes of the Wuthering Heights movie that in no way is like the book. But I did find other books to read including What is the What. I finished God, Help the Child which is the last Toni Morrison book I had to read in my completionist quest.
I think that reading books in translation most frequently and vividly gives a different impression of history and culture. My mom's family traces their ancestry to Germany; she had visited East Berlin in the days of the Wall and the secret police. Her brother served in the US army and spent most of the Eighties in Germany preparing for war between empires that never happened. Needless to say, I didn't have a positive view of East Germany. Then I read Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck and it showed East Berlin in a different light. I found her other novels do the same. Similarly, I found Heinrich Boll's The Clown to be basically the West German version of The Catcher in the Rye and that 1950s West Germany wasn't much different than Fifties in America. Finally, Boll’s Group Portrait with Lady painted a much different version of Germany in the '30s and '40s than I had learned. Reading his novel gave me an empathy for at least a fictional citizenry that had been denied me by media propaganda and historical revisionism. History is written by the victors, but everyone has a story to tell; I’d like to think the universal human urge to art is stronger than the urge to war.
Erpenbeck won a Booker Award and Boll the Nobel, which I feel legitimizes their portrayals - as much as art imitates life.