Recently finished books?

[sirena]

Cracking! How many have you read so far?

Only 7!

[sirena]

Son Excellence Eugène Rougon - Émile Zola+

[Daniel del Real]

Son Excellence Eugène Rougon - Émile Zola+

Really? Could you elaborate more about your dislike for this book. I expect these books to have the quality of Le Ventre de Paris, but I can see and by own experience also, that some of them are very uneven.

[Daniel del Real]

J.M. Coetzee, Boyhood +
Thomas Bernhard, Amras +

[sirena]

Really? Could you elaborate more about your dislike for this book. I expect these books to have the quality of Le Ventre de Paris, but I can see and by own experience also, that some of them are very uneven.

Generally, it's boooring! The characters are, for my taste, completely superficially done and the politics are reduced, more or less, to salon talk.

[sirena]

The Elephant's Journey - José Saramago

[kpjayan]

Magda Szabo - The Door : She is a brilliant writer, very intelligent. While the subject may not be a heavy weight to warrant another read, but she managed to pull it off without straying too much ( occasionally , yes) into the over sentimentality.

I know Elie has also read this recently. Will write up a small note, if she is not done it already.

[sirena]

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

[lenz]

Seven Nights - Jorge Luis Borges trans. Eliot Weinberger
Seven lectures on various subjects filled with literary references from everywhere. Amazing.

[Elie]

Magda Szabo - The Door : She is a brilliant writer, very intelligent. While the subject may not be a heavy weight to warrant another read, but she managed to pull it off without straying too much ( occasionally , yes) into the over sentimentality.

I know Elie has also read this recently. Will write up a small note, if she is not done it already.

Yes, it was a really good read. It was a bit weird and unsettling at times and I can't say there weren't moments when I wanted to bang the central characters' heads together, but definitely enjoyable.

I'd like to read more of her works, but everything's out of print in English and Vintage (who published this edition of The Door) aren't publishing anything else until 2013 :-(

[sumaira]

i just finished novel 'Ireland' by Charles Delaney.very mild diction and gradual development of the story.i liked it.

[Daniel del Real]

Yes, it was a really good read. It was a bit weird and unsettling at times and I can't say there weren't moments when I wanted to bang the central characters' heads together, but definitely enjoyable.

I'd like to read more of her works, but everything's out of print in English and Vintage (who published this edition of The Door) aren't publishing anything else until 2013 :-(

I can't believe there are no more titles available in English from Szabo. I was checking that in Spanish, beside Pilatus (The one I read and translated as Iza's Ballad) there is The Door and another novel called Katalin Street. However, it's hard to find those titles, so I'll try to check for anything available in the Book Fair.

[Daniel del Real]

Haruki Murakami, 1Q84 +
A lecture on how to structure a novel and all its characters in such a length. The end didn't work for me, very abrupt and that's what it took off the half star. Still a fantastic novel that has to be catalogued among Murakami's best.

[Stiffelio]

Haruki Murakami, 1Q84 +
A lecture on how to structure a novel and all its characters in such a length. The end didn't work for me, very abrupt and that's what it took off the half star. Still a fantastic novel that has to be catalogued among Murakami's best.

I wonder why you (and other posters) have qualms about Murakami not sorting things out neat and tidy to conclude the book. After all, that is quientessential Murakami style and it has always been that way, in every novel, in every short story. The important thing for him is to open up possibilities, not to give answers. I look forward to reading this novel as soon as possible to contribute to the discussion.

[kpjayan]

I can't believe there are no more titles available in English from Szabo. I was checking that in Spanish, beside Pilatus (The one I read and translated as Iza's Ballad) there is The Door and another novel called Katalin Street. However, it's hard to find those titles, so I'll try to check for anything available in the Book Fair.

What I read elsewhere , says 4 of her titles are translated to English. Its a different matter, whether they are in print now. Yes, like Elie said, I am keen to read more of her.

[Elie]

I searched on Amazon marketplace and Ebay and a few other places and I can tell that a few other English translations have definitely existed but they're next to impossible to get hold of, unless of course you can afford to pay £100+ for a hardback first edition. Which I can't, unfortunately :-(

[Rumpelstilzchen]

I searched on Amazon marketplace and Ebay and a few other places and I can tell that a few other English translations have definitely existed but they're next to impossible to get hold of, unless of course you can afford to pay £100+ for a hardback first edition. Which I can't, unfortunately :-(

I have not found EBAY very helpful when it comes to books... have you tried www.abebooks.co.uk ? This is the best site for used books on the web. If you know the ISBN number (check it at amazon) then you could also use this site to make a quick search http://www.fetchbook.info/ .

[kpjayan]

Haruki Murakami, 1Q84 +
A lecture on how to structure a novel and all its characters in such a length. The end didn't work for me, very abrupt and that's what it took off the half star. Still a fantastic novel that has to be catalogued among Murakami's best.

Now available in India.. Just booked online. Hope to get in a couple of days.. It will be a while before I start reading though.. Couldn't resist the temptation..

The Prague Cemetery is yet to be made available here... Thats the next in line for compulsive buying.. MVL's book I guess hasn't been translated into English yet...

[Hemmo]

Generally, it's boooring! The characters are, for my taste, completely superficially done and the politics are reduced, more or less, to salon talk.

I thought it was wonderful - one of my favourites of the Rougon-Macquart - and very different from the others. Its very impressionistic though, as often with Zola, the characters often work wore as symbols than as individuals. It also must have been a very brave book to write for the time, not only for its depiction of religion but (this could just be me) because of the poetic prose which is similar to the impressionist paintings that were being done at the time...

[Daniel del Real]

I wonder why you (and other posters) have qualms about Murakami not sorting things out neat and tidy to conclude the book. After all, that is quientessential Murakami style and it has always been that way, in every novel, in every short story. The important thing for him is to open up possibilities, not to give answers. I look forward to reading this novel as soon as possible to contribute to the discussion.

I know that, but this time he went one step farther. It's not like he didn't close it expecting him to do it as in a XIX century novel like, but this time, he chopped the ending. It felt like he didn't want to keep on going and looked for the shortest way to finish it. I don't want to say anything else but it would be interesting to discuss it when you read it. Many people is reading this book right now, so probably it would be a good choice to bring back to live the Book of the Month.