Reading List Completists discussion

Discuss the September Completest selection here.

I am excited about this. Already started to read it. It's one of those books where you find sentences you want to read out loud and memorise. I quite like it so far.

I have already started as well. The writing is very good but the book is not what I expected it to be like at all, although it is somewhat foolish to have preconceived notions of what a book is going to be like.

Ellison's use of adjectives and descriptive phrases is superb. Consider this passage about a walk to church - "Dong! Dong! Dong! Above the decorous walking around me, sounds of footsteps leaving the verandas of far-flung buildings and moving toward the walks and over the walks to the asphalt drives lined with whitewashed stones, those cryptic messages for men and women, boys and girls heading quietly toward where the visitors waited, and we moving not in the mood of worship but of judgment; as though even here in the filtering dusk, here beneath the deep indigo sky, here, alive with looping swifts and darting moths, here in the hereness of the night not yet lighted by the moon that looms blood-red behind the chapel like a fallen sun, its radiance shedding not upon the here-dusk of twittering bats, nor on the there-night of cricket and whippoorwill, but focused short-rayed upon our place of convergence; and we drifting forward with rigid motions, limbs stiff and voices now silent, as though on exhibit even in the dark, and the moon a white man’s bloodshot eye." Lovely.

I see many have begun already!

For those who have not, today is the day!

Janet wrote: "I have already started as well. The writing is very good but the book is not what I expected it to be like at all, although it is somewhat foolish to have preconceived notions of what a book is goi..."

I really quite enjoy the language. Though for a non-native English speaker I found Trueblood's account quite difficult to follow...

Benjamin wrote: "Janet wrote: "I have already started as well. The writing is very good but the book is not what I expected it to be like at all, although it is somewhat foolish to have preconceived notions of what..."
I can understand that it would be challenging for a non-native English speaker.

Benjamin wrote: "Janet wrote: "I have already started as well. The writing is very good but the book is not what I expected it to be like at all, although it is somewhat foolish to have preconceived notions of what..."

Generally speaking, my English is ok but slang from the 1920s American South is a real stretch. But I am enjoying it enormously.

Benjamin wrote: "Generally speaking, my English is ok but slang from the 1920s American South is a real stretch. But I am enjoying it enormously."

Trust me, even though my primary language is English, if it is slang other than from the 1980s or 1990s, I tend to struggle with it as well!

23 Skidoo!

In chapter 21 they are having a funeral. I will not say whose because it could be a spoiler. However, they are singing a spiritual - Many Thousand Gone - that is very powerful to me. I looked it up and I am including a link that includes the words and an audio. Very moving. https://www.balladofamerica.org/many-...

Janet wrote: "In chapter 21 they are having a funeral. I will not say whose because it could be a spoiler. However, they are singing a spiritual - Many Thousand Gone - that is very powerful to me. I looked it up..."

Thanks for sharing that, Janet.

Very interesting so far - not what I expected so far. All the various anecdotes - usually with our protagonist being falsely accused - are very engaging. I find myself talking back to the book - always a good sign!

Matthew wrote: "Very interesting so far - not what I expected so far. All the various anecdotes - usually with our protagonist being falsely accused - are very engaging. I find myself talking back to the book - al..."

I definitely relate to this. I find it very interesting how optimistic the narrator always is before getting knocked down. Its beautifully written but it is rather painful. The scene where the real content of the school's "recommandation" letters is revealed is one of the more remarkable things I have read for a while and will probably stay with me a long time.

Okay, I'm officially adding this to my TBR pile. Besides fitting the monthly genre of historical fiction, it also fits my ongoing list of books on race and cultural understanding. I'll probably start this after finishing Cutting for Stone, also a book on cultural understanding and historical fiction.

I have finished and thought it was great! Much more unique than I was expecting. In fact, the whole book was not really what I expected at all:

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Matthew wrote: "I have finished and thought it was great! Much more unique than I was expecting. In fact, the whole book was not really what I expected at all:

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/35..."

That's a fine review! Thank you for this. I didn't really know about the book before and wasn't quite sure what to expect. But now I am really enjoying it. Definitely one of those classics that should get more attention. And in a very strange – maybe even depressing – sense it completely speaks to our moment.

This was my review. It was written late at night, so hopefully, it's not complete babbling, ha! But I really enjoyed the book, much more than I expected!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...