a travelogue
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08/12/08
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Book:
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The Silent Cry: A Novel by Kenzaburo Oë
I have a feeling that this translation is not the best in the world (though as far as I know it’s the only). Oe gets quite a bit of praise for the poetics of his language, but I didn’t really …continue reading »
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05/24/08
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Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
My first hands on with Borges… Absolutely amazing. So far beyond what I’ve been reading lately (mainly non-fiction and some late 20th century authors). As with Faulkner, I find it shocking that I was given an undergraduate degree in English …continue reading »
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09/09/07
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Book:
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As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
“I decline to accept the end of man.” — William Faulker in a speech to accept the Nobel Prize of Literature.continue reading »
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09/09/07
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Book:
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Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by José Saramago
By far Saramago’s best book. “Here the sea ends and the earth begins…”continue reading »
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09/09/07
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Book:
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Campo Santo by W.G. Sebald
Sebald at his best: Death, destruction and memory obsessed over and exhumed in the light art, literature and nature, and, among other things, absurdity, paranoia and love.continue reading »
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09/09/07
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Book:
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First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung
A childhood survivor of Cambodia’s Pol Pot regime, Loung Ung’s memoir is rough and brutal but in the end hopeful about the world. As her site says, the book is about “the unnerving strength of a child.” Read it while …continue reading »
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10/15/07
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Book:
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The Dead Father by Donald Barthelme
Barthelme is one of a kind, one of those love him or hate him soft of authors.continue reading »
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10/15/07
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Book:
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Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
One of the most original ideas I’ve come across in recent memory, erudite and extremely well written for a "popular" science book.continue reading »
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10/15/07
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Book:
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Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
Though I do intend to get back to the Proust, I wound up one day with this novel in my hands and since I’ve been meaning to read Cormac Mccarthy for years, I thought why not. Although you could say, …continue reading »