New David Mitchell novel out this fall

[redhead]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/art...id-mitchell-novel-coming-in-october/?referrer

I'm surprised he has a new one ready so quickly.

2015 is shaping up to be a good year for Anglophone lit: There's this, Ishiguro's The Burned Giant, Vollmann's The Dying Grass, Franzen's Purity, City on Fire by Garth Rsh Hallberg (which set a record for advances for novels), plus new Morrison, Lethem, Joshua Cohen, and many others, and that's just established authors.

Though I wonder how many of these books will actually turn out to be worth reading

 

[Liam]

Anglophone Lit, I would say, is in its golden age. Never before have we been writing, reading, publishing and translating quite so much. As you said, the quality of many of these books is a point of contrition among readers and critics, but time will decide whose work survives and whose doesn't. I can't wait for the new Ishiguro, and will also check out the Franzen, out of lazy curiosity.

 

[pesahson]

That reminds me, I've never read Mitchell, and I have to admit, he sounds the most promising out of most English speaking (writing?) authors. Any recommendations for what to read first?

 

[Liam]

I could never quite fall in love with Mitchell (whom I consider overrated); reading him, however, is not a waste of your time: very possibly you will enjoy the story, savor the language, and admire the style. I know many people are going to proffer Cloud Atlas as the best intro to Mitchell; I would suggest number9dream as the better place to start, however. But either one of these two books would serve as a good introduction to his writing.

 

[pesahson]

I've been reading number9dream for over a week now and I've decided to give up. I've read four parts and I just don't feel like it's going anywhere interesting. Well, no. I'd be interested to know what happens but I'm not as interested in how it's depicted. I may give Mitchell another go, but not anytime soon.

 

[Liam]

^The book ends on a happy note, but getting there, yes, is a circular/circumlocutory journey, LOL.

 

[redhead]

Speaking of new releases, here is a sneak peek at the new Franzen novel:

http://www.fsgworkinprogress.com/20...adblog_coverreveal&utm_campaign=9780374239213

Not sold on it, but it sounds intriguing.