Romans-Fleuves
- Thread starter Patrick Murtha
- Start date
Patrick Murtha
Reader
By my standards, yes, trilogies count. I recently purchased Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy and Melvyn Bragg’s Cumbrian Trilogy.
I like very long individual novels, too; I like the big canvas.
The Guyana Quartet is definitely on my radar. Wilson Harris is a most challenging writer!
I like very long individual novels, too; I like the big canvas.
The Guyana Quartet is definitely on my radar. Wilson Harris is a most challenging writer!
Benny Profane
Well-known member
New names:
Günter Grass - Danzig Trilogy;
Joseph McElroy - Women and Men;
Thomas Mann - Joseph and His Brothers;
Henry Williamson - A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight;
Anthony Powell - A Dance to The Music of Time;
Tolkien - Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Silmarilion (Middle-Earth)
Etc...
Günter Grass - Danzig Trilogy;
Joseph McElroy - Women and Men;
Thomas Mann - Joseph and His Brothers;
Henry Williamson - A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight;
Anthony Powell - A Dance to The Music of Time;
Tolkien - Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Silmarilion (Middle-Earth)
Etc...
Patrick Murtha
Reader
Joseph and His Brothers is definitely something I want to read, although The Magic Mountain will come first.
I think of Women and Men as a meganovel. It seems to me that one crucial characteristic of a roman-fleuve is that it be published in separate volumes over a period of years.
I think of Women and Men as a meganovel. It seems to me that one crucial characteristic of a roman-fleuve is that it be published in separate volumes over a period of years.
Patrick Murtha
Reader
I love all the old children’s book series, even the Stratemeyer Syndicate ones. Don’t get me started on Freddy the Pig, he’s my idol! ?
I think my love of animals stems partly from the Doctor Dolittle books (also TV series of the Sixties such as Flipper).
I think my love of animals stems partly from the Doctor Dolittle books (also TV series of the Sixties such as Flipper).
Liam
Administrator
Pretty much all of fantasy is a roman-fleuve as authors are expected to continue writing sequels if the first book proves to be successful: Earthsea, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, etc.
But in terms of realist depictions of human life, I love the abovementioned quartet by A.S. Byatt written over the course of 25 years: you can see the characters change, but you can also see Byatt herself change, as a thinker, as a writer, as a stylist: all four books are so different in execution!
I know Patrick meant this thread to revolve around books alone, but I would like to mention three cinematic achievements that I think are peerless (because, again, you can see the actors change, and grow, and mature, and become different human beings, just like their characters!):
- the Bill Douglas Trilogy (My Childhood, My Ain Folk, My Way Home)
- Truffaut's Adventures of Antoine Doinel (1959-1979)
- Richard Linklater's the "Before" trilogy: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight (1995-2013)
Astonishing achievements, all of them!
But in terms of realist depictions of human life, I love the abovementioned quartet by A.S. Byatt written over the course of 25 years: you can see the characters change, but you can also see Byatt herself change, as a thinker, as a writer, as a stylist: all four books are so different in execution!
I know Patrick meant this thread to revolve around books alone, but I would like to mention three cinematic achievements that I think are peerless (because, again, you can see the actors change, and grow, and mature, and become different human beings, just like their characters!):
- the Bill Douglas Trilogy (My Childhood, My Ain Folk, My Way Home)
- Truffaut's Adventures of Antoine Doinel (1959-1979)
- Richard Linklater's the "Before" trilogy: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight (1995-2013)
Astonishing achievements, all of them!
Patrick Murtha
Reader
I once saw all five Antoine Doinel films in one weekend, thanks to the Film Center of the Art Institute of Chicago, and it was a highlight of my filmgoing life.
I heard that Linklater & Co. are going to make one more Before film?
I heard that Linklater & Co. are going to make one more Before film?
Patrick Murtha
Reader
And on the subject of fleuvish films, the amazing Up documentary series deserves a mention. Nine films to date, with 63 Up the most recent in 2019. Director Michael Apted has now passed away, but I hope he left plans for others to soldier on with 70 Up. One’s emotional investment in these 14 individuals that were first seen in 7 Up in 1964 is pretty intense.
Liam
Administrator
Gosh, I really hope so! I adore his work, and I LOVE both of the actors (Hawke and Delpy)!
Ben Jackson
Well-known member
I have read the first volume of Updike famous Rabbitt tetralogy, Rabbitt Run, a wonderful novel.
Pat, The Magic Mountain is a classic work. Read it last year. As usual, it's has the characteristic, or usual ingredients, of Mann major works: long novels with 19th century narrative interwoven with long, philosophical discussion. In this novel, it's about time and what it does to the universe. Great work.
Thanks guys for all the recommendations.
Pat, The Magic Mountain is a classic work. Read it last year. As usual, it's has the characteristic, or usual ingredients, of Mann major works: long novels with 19th century narrative interwoven with long, philosophical discussion. In this novel, it's about time and what it does to the universe. Great work.
Thanks guys for all the recommendations.
Mise Eire
Reader
- If trilogies count, then let's not forget Robertson Davies whose output, novel-wise, was segmented into trilogy order. Deptford made him famous but I place the Cornish trilogy ahead of that.
The Salterton Trilogy- Tempest-Tost (1951)
- Leaven of Malice (1954)
- A Mixture of Frailties (1958)
- The Deptford Trilogy
- Fifth Business (1970)
- The Manticore (1972)
- World of Wonders (1975)
- The Cornish Trilogy
- The Rebel Angels (1981)
- What's Bred in the Bone (1985)
- The Lyre of Orpheus (1988)
- The "Toronto Trilogy" (incomplete)
- Murther and Walking Spirits (1991)
- The Cunning Man (1994)
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Patrick Murtha
Reader
I had completely forgotten to list Johannes V. Jensen’s six-volume The Long Journey among the romans-fleuves! Knopf published a one-volume edition when he won the Nobel Prize in 1944, copies are a little pricey but that edition is downloadable at the Internet Archive.
Now, although Jensen was NOT a fascist or a Nazi, still I can’t imagine that The Long Journey would hold much appeal for contemporary readers, presenting as it does a Nordic writer’s racial-evolutionary theories (and being very pro-Christopher Columbus!). But of course, that is precisely what makes me more interested in it: It is way out of fashion. I like my past to BE the past, warts and all.
Now, although Jensen was NOT a fascist or a Nazi, still I can’t imagine that The Long Journey would hold much appeal for contemporary readers, presenting as it does a Nordic writer’s racial-evolutionary theories (and being very pro-Christopher Columbus!). But of course, that is precisely what makes me more interested in it: It is way out of fashion. I like my past to BE the past, warts and all.
Verkhovensky
Well-known member
Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante could be considered an example, although you can argue it is just one really long 1,800+ page book published in four volumes.
Patrick Murtha
Reader
Miklós Bánffy’s Transylvanian Trilogy, forgot that one!
And Mary Lee Settle’s Beulah Quintet.
I think this topic is bottomless.
And Mary Lee Settle’s Beulah Quintet.
I think this topic is bottomless.
Patrick Murtha
Reader
Three more!
1) I don’t think we’ve mentioned Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Roads to Freedom tetralogy.
2) Pak Kyong-ni’s Land extends to 16 or 20 volumes (depending on your reference source). The first group of volumes was translated as Land a few years ago. Maybe the rest will appear eventually?
3) i just thought of John Edgar Wideman’s Homewood Trilogy because I was talking about my book clerk days in another thread, and these were paperbacks that I promoted.
1) I don’t think we’ve mentioned Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Roads to Freedom tetralogy.
2) Pak Kyong-ni’s Land extends to 16 or 20 volumes (depending on your reference source). The first group of volumes was translated as Land a few years ago. Maybe the rest will appear eventually?
3) i just thought of John Edgar Wideman’s Homewood Trilogy because I was talking about my book clerk days in another thread, and these were paperbacks that I promoted.
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One day I found three of these in a charity shop and when I found out it was a tetralogy, I obviously had to source the fourth.
It's the Women and the City series (Norvik Press) by Kerstin Ekman, formerly of Seat 15 (until voluntarily and officially leaving in 2018) in the Swedish Academy.
In order:
These are the covers I have (that third is a stinker!) although they've since been rebranded (see links above) and look nicer.
It's the Women and the City series (Norvik Press) by Kerstin Ekman, formerly of Seat 15 (until voluntarily and officially leaving in 2018) in the Swedish Academy.
In order:
These are the covers I have (that third is a stinker!) although they've since been rebranded (see links above) and look nicer.
Attachments
And, one more: Rivers of Babylon by Peter Pišťanek, which may be a bit obscure, from Slovakia. I seem to remember this being limited to 1,000 copies at the time, but no idea if true.
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